A little-known federal program has quietly safeguarded the crops feeding the nation, including key Ohio staples like soybeans, tomatoes, corn and apples but recent budget cuts and mass firings by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency have disrupted its work.
The National Plant Germplasm System, in place since 1898, is now struggling to maintain its seed collections. Though a court reinstated some scientists, many still have not returned, putting this year's crop regeneration cycles at risk.
Iago Hale, associate professor of specialty crop improvement at the University of New Hampshire, said the consequences could be far-reaching.
"If you subsist totally on chicken nuggets and KFC, that's fine. Understand that comes back to plants grown in the field," Hale pointed out. "The breading on your fried chicken, the French fries that you're eating, these are all products of crops, and this is how it works."
While not a major crop in Ohio, potatoes are among the most vulnerable nationally. Unlike other crops, they cannot be stored as seeds and require annual regrowth to survive. Experts said the disruption highlights just how fragile the food system is, even for states like Ohio with strong agricultural roots.
Hale warned once a crop line is lost, it's gone for good, taking with it traits which might be needed to fight the next disease or climate stressor.
"When these things die they're gone, it's not just an app on the shelf you can come back to two years later and keep working on," Hale emphasized.
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