Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) is a USDA grant program that provides financial assistance to farms and small businesses for energy system improvements. This program, in existence since the early 2000s, has helped thousands of rural business owners nationwide save money, improve their energy efficiency, and adopt renewable energy. In Northeast Iowa alone, CEDI has assisted five successful projects in the past year (here’s an example, also covered here).
REAP grant applications–which include a rigorous project plan and formal commitment to cost-sharing–are normally accepted by our local USDA Service Centers four times per year, at the end of each quarter.
However, USDA is now pausing their review of grant applications until new REAP guidelines are published to reflect compliance with new federal restrictions. These proposed guidelines have been in development since U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced changes to REAP in August 2025. They still have not been issued.
Without guidelines, USDA cannot review applications and award new REAP grants to farmers and other rural business owners.
As of March 17, 2026, it’s been nearly one full year since new REAP applications have been reviewed, due to:
- USDA pausing any REAP applications for 6 months (2 quarters) between April 1 and September 30, 2025;
- USDA not accepting applications for another 43 days during the federal shutdown that began on October 1; and
- USDA accepting new applications in mid-November 2025 that have still not been reviewed due to missing guidelines.
These delays put extraordinary strain on local USDA staff and create damaging uncertainty for our rural Iowa businesses as they decide whether to invest in needed infrastructure.
Lastly, many REAP applicants who submitted project applications during the last two quarters of calendar year 2024 are still waiting for word on acceptance. This is because the REAP grant at that time was supplemented (doubled) with former IRA funds, and USDA has yet to decide whether to review and potentially fund those applications.
In all, this series of events stunts USDA’s service to farmers, small business owners, and our rural communities. Interested in supporting REAP and its future? Please reach out to your legislative representatives.
Posted: March 18, 2026

