Eastern Missouri

A 27-year-old cattle farmer with a TikTok following, Holden recently embarked on a $240,000 upgrade of the water lines, wells, and fencing around his 260-acre property. His project had been made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, a Biden administration program that Donald Trump vowed to undo. With his USDA help frozen, Holden worried that he wouldn’t have enough money to make his loan payments and buy hay for next winter.

In a viral TikTok video, Holden said his entire operation has been placed in jeopardy. “I’ve already done a bunch of the work, already paid for the material and the labor, so I’m out all that cost,” he explained. “We are possibly going to lose our farm if NRCS doesn’t hold up their contract with us.”

Holden voted for Trump, despite news reports that Project 2025 was calling for an end to programs like the one he was relying on. He took comfort in Donald Trump’s repeated assurances that he had nothing to do with Project 2025. “I don’t have TV out here,” Holden said. “I don’t watch the news channels, because every time you turn on the news this news channel is saying the other channel is lying… I don’t have time to filter through the bullshit.”

Holden has taken a lot of flak on social media. An older Missouri farmer, Will Westmoreland, tried to explain the criticism. “A lot of rural people, over 70 percent of rural farmers and ranchers, only believe the Fox News and the talk radio,” Westmoreland said. “And when they came to you and told you that Trump wasn’t going to implement Project 2025, and that he didn’t have anything to do with it, you believed that. And you’re not alone.”

Holden no longer believes. “A lot of people have opened my eyes to other issues that I don’t pay attention to… because it doesn’t affect me,” he says. “ Now, that’s wrong…I haven’t been paying attention…and I’m having those constructive conversations now.”

Date Posted: 3/10/25