Federal Judge Approves Farmer, Sustainable Agriculture Group Intervention In Lawsuit Seeking To Gut Wetland Protections

Groups to defend clean water, wetlands against Project 2025-motivated lawsuit

DES MOINES – Today, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Environmental Council, Dakota Rural Action, and Food & Water Watch were approved to intervene in a federal lawsuit in Iowa District Court, CTM Holdings, LLC v. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The groups will defend 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. The approved intervention represents the first time farmers directly implicated in the lawsuit’s objective will be involved in the case.

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.

This case is the Pacific Legal Foundation’s latest effort 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 targeting a Supreme Court ruling.

Food & Water Watch Staff Attorney Dani Replogle said, “As we face a future engineered by Project 2025 extremists, it is more critical than ever that their dangerous agenda is stopped in the courts. This case is a politically motivated attack on longstanding environmental protections that have supported farmers and clean water for decades. Swampbuster is a keystone example of USDA’s uncontroversial ability to encourage sustainable farming practices. With today’s decision, farmers and advocates who benefit from the program will have the chance to send these extremists packing.” 

“We are pleased that the court has agreed that farmers’ voices are important to this case and granted intervention. If the plaintiff wins this case, not only will it have disastrous consequences for the environment, but it will radically alter American agricultural policy. Farmers have so much at stake, it is only fair that they have a seat at the table,” said Katie Garvey, Staff Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center.

“Iowans and people across the country benefit from foundational conditions for conservation like Swampbuster. As we face severe storms and flooding, wetlands protected by Swampbuster are critical for protecting our communities. Congress identified the benefits they provide and we need them more than ever today,” 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. Sodbuster alone is credited with a whopping 40 percent reduction in soil erosion, making farmland more productive and reducing water pollution.

CTM Holdings, LLC vs USDA was initially filed in April 2024 in federal court in the Northern District of Iowa. Attorneys for the USDA responded in July; groups moved to intervene in October. Based on a proposed timeline, the case would go to trial in mid-2025.

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