Skylar Holden, a Missouri cattle farmer who determined his presidential vote through a 25-question internet quiz, expressed surprise this week after the Trump administration froze the $240,000 in federal conservation funds he was counting on to save his farm.
Holden, who works 17-hour days and therefore couldn't spare the time to research which candidate planned to freeze farm subsidies, nonetheless found sufficient hours in his schedule to invest $80,000 in water lines, fencing, and wells based on a signed contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
"I've already done a bunch of the work, already paid for the material and the labor, so I'm out all that cost," Holden explained in a TikTok video, noting that the funding freeze—part of the administration's review of 409 USDA programs—came as a complete shock despite being a central component of the candidate's platform.
Missouri Republican Representative Jason Smith praised the development, confirming that the freeze "shouldn't have come as a surprise" since Trump "promised" to be "disruptive." Smith added that "it's all going to work out," a reassurance that Holden found particularly comforting while calculating which cattle to sell to avoid foreclosure.
Fellow Missouri farmer Will Westmoreland noted that "over 70 percent of rural farmers and ranchers only believe the Fox News and the talk radio," which repeatedly assured viewers that Project 2025—the conservative blueprint calling for USDA funding cuts—had nothing to do with Trump.
Holden defended his decision-making process, explaining that "you have to balance out what interests you support" and "make that vote and then you fight against the things that you feel passionate about, that you think your candidate is doing wrong." He is currently fighting passionately against the exact USDA funding freeze that his preferred candidate explicitly promised to implement.
Sources close to Holden report he is now conducting extensive research into which online quiz can help him decide whether to take out additional loans on his equipment or simply allow the bank to foreclose on his property.
At press time, Holden was tagging President Trump and Vice President Vance on TikTok, confident that the administration that froze his funding would certainly restore it once they saw his social media posts.
