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March 31, 2025
Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Today, attorneys representing Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Environmental Council, Dakota Rural Action, and Food & Water Watch appeared in court to defend clean water and wetlands against a Project 2025-motivated lawsuit, CTM Holdings, LLC v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, which seeks to gut longstanding protections. The intervening groups represent the only farmers involved in the lawsuit, even though American farm policy is directly implicated.
The intervenors are represented by the Environmental Law & Policy Center, Food & Water Watch, and the Iowa Environmental Council. Counsel from ELPC provided oral argument today before a federal court in the Northern District of Iowa.
The groups defended longstanding “Swampbuster” Farm Bill provisions from the plaintiff’s effort to deem the program unconstitutional. Swampbuster has protected wetlands, safeguarded clean water, and supported farmers in Iowa and nationwide for nearly four decades. If the plaintiffs are successful, the program could be revoked entirely, along with its sister program, Sodbuster.
“The stakes are high because in this case the Plaintiff is asking the court to invalidate a 40-year-old farm program that protects wetlands all across the country,” said ELPC Staff Attorney Katie Garvey who provided oral argument today in court. “Everybody pays a price when wetlands are lost, but those who live downstream will pay the highest costs. Plaintiff is not a farmer and does not speak for family farmers who believe that Swampbuster is fair, makes sense, and is worth protecting.”
Food & Water Watch Staff Attorney Dani Replogle said, “Clean water and wetlands must not be sacrificed in the name of political fanaticism. Swampbuster and Sodbuster are keystones of USDA’s uncontroversial ability to encourage sustainable farming practices. Attacks on this key program are shortsighted and dangerous. It’s time to send the Project 2025 zealots packing.”
“Iowans – including Iowa farmers – have suffered from severe storms and flooding, and wetlands protected by Swampbuster mitigate those impacts. We’ve already lost 98 percent of the state’s wetlands and need to protect what little remains.” said Michael Schmidt, General Counsel at the Iowa Environmental Council.
Background
The federal Farm Bill sets agricultural and conservation policy nationwide. Two provisions, Swampbuster and Sodbuster, commonly referred to as “conservation compliance” are implicated in CTM Holdings, LLC vs USDA. Starting in 1985, the Farm Bill put conditions on the receipt of federal subsidies: farmers must not drain wetlands (“Swampbuster”) or plant crops on highly erodible land (“Sodbuster”) if they want to receive the subsidies. These provisions are credited with a whopping 40 percent reduction in soil erosion, making farmland more productive and reducing water pollution. Wetlands also provide much-needed resiliency against droughts and flooding. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the 30 million acres of wetlands in the Upper Midwest alone are responsible for preventing $23 billion per year in residential flood loss costs.
The plaintiff landholding company in this lawsuit, represented by the libertarian-leaning Pacific Legal Foundation, seeks to further a key Project 2025 objective: unhitching federal farm financing from basic conservation requirements. CTM Holdings, LLC vs USDA was initially filed in April 2024 in federal court in the Northern District of Iowa.
This case is among the Pacific Legal Foundation’s portfolio of lawsuits seeking to roll back wetlands protections, following its victory before the Supreme Court last year in Sackett v. EPA, which revoked Clean Water Act protection from many of the nation’s wetlands. Pacific Legal Foundation has made it clear it intends to use CTM Holdings, LLC vs USDA to upend Swampbuster regulation entirely, ultimately angling for a Supreme Court ruling.