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The John Deere Foundation announced Tuesday it was committing $18.5 million to support food banks across the country and their connections with farmers, with $13 million of the commitment to support food banks and farmers in Iowa.
Katie Sorrell, the executive director of the Iowa Food Bank Association, said the partnership was a "win-win-win investment" that would benefit food banks, families in need of food assistance and farmers who gain local market opportunities.
Sorrell said food insecurity increased in every Iowa county over the past year. National data show 1 in 8 Iowans, about 12.4%, are food insecure.
"Behind those numbers and statistics are our neighbors, seniors, coworkers, veterans, students, and working families doing their best to make ends meet. And the need continues to grow," Sorrell said. " ... This investment will help bring fresh, nutritious, farm-grown food to the places where Iowans already turn for support."
The John Deere Foundation funding will support food bank operations and build up Iowa's farm to food bank initiatives. The company made the announcement at the Food Bank of Iowa headquarters in Des Moines.
While Food Bank of Iowa, Riverbend Food Bank and Northeast Iowa Food Bank currently purchase from about 20 producers, the food banks estimate the additional funding will allow them to expand to work directly with around 120 farmers.
"That's nearly 100 additional farmers participating across these three food bank networks, helping supply nutritious food to their communities through a model that is already proven successful," said Deanna Kovar, president of worldwide ag & turf division at John Deere.
Emily Wynn, a farmer with Brewer Family Farms, said her family has been selling pork products, like chorizo, to Food Bank of Iowa since 2024, when the food bank received funding for local purchases through the state-led Choose Iowa program.
Brewer Family Farms sells beef and pork direct to consumers in addition to farming row crops.
Wynn said being a farmer is a hard job but new opportunities like selling directly to a food bank help operations like hers, which has been in her family for more than 150 years, grow in new directions.
"These are the types of opportunities that allow us, as those that are coming into owning the farm one day, the ability to hopefully keep it and own it until we're in our late 70s and 80s, and then be able to give it on to the next generation," Wynn said.
In 2025, Choose Iowa allocated $200,000 in matching funds to Iowa food banks to purchase proteins, dairy, small grains, flour and honey from Choose Iowa member farms. Farmers have called for more local food funding since a federal procurement program was cut in 2025.
Wynn said even small farms that can only sell 50 or so pounds at a time to a food bank can take advantage of the partnership.
"We grow the best protein, produce, crops in the nation here in Iowa, and it's our duty to be able to spread that," Wynn said. "So we love being able to partner and give back."
Emily Shearer, Food Bank of Iowa's vice president of food acquisition, said the John Deere Foundation funding will more than double the local food procurement the food bank does currently. Shearer said Food Bank of Iowa intends to add 10-12 producers to its roster of vendors for each of the three years of the John Deere Foundation funding.
Shearer said the food bank tries to prioritize things like protein and dairy with local food procurement because those are the items that are typically most expensive in a grocery cart, but she said this funding also allows the food bank the flexibility to purchase other things, like locally milled flour.
According to Food Bank of Iowa's 2026 fiscal year impact report, the nonprofit distributed more than 28 million pounds of food to the more than 700 food pantries and meal centers it serves. The report said 30% of the food was purchased by the food bank last year, 19% came from U.S. Department of Agriculture, 36% was rescued food and the final 15% was donated.
Food banks across the state also saw increased need in late 2025 when the government shutdown temporarily suspended federal nutrition benefits. As the cost of food has increased over the past several years, Shearer said it has meant the food bank has to spend more on the food it purchases.
Shearer said she typically works directly with farmers for local food purchases and that often farmers are willing to cut a deal or donate some food in addition to the food bank purchase.
Annette Hacker, Food Bank of Iowa's chief communications and strategy officer, said the Des Moines-based food bank is set to receive $1 million from the John Deere Foundation each year for the next three years. Hacker said this funding will then be divided between three "buckets" at the food bank: one for farm to plate, another for operating expenses and the third for volunteer programing with John Deere staff to pack items like snack packs and hygiene products.
The John Deere Foundation announcement pledged $17 million, which includes the $13 million to be spent in Iowa, to Feeding America and an additional $1.5 million to The Farmlink Project, a nonprofit food recovery and delivery organization.
"These investments will help recover surplus food, expand access to nutrition, nutritious meals and create stronger connections between farmers and food banks," John Deere Foundation President Taryn Edgin said.