New York, New York - Farmers and environmental groups on Monday sued the Department of Agriculture after it removed references to climate change from its website and froze climate funding.

The lawsuit comes after the department ordered staff to take down any online web pages that make reference to climate change, including all data sets, interactive tools, and funding information that may be present.

Amid the climate blitz, the Trump administration also ordered the freezing of climate and conservation funding to businesses and nonprofits.

In response, lawyers from Earthjustice and the Knight First Amendment Institute (KFAI) filed a suit on behalf of organizations, including the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Environmental Working Group, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The suit claims that the information provided on the web pages was crucial for farmers facing climate change risk.

In particular, up-to-date data on droughts, floods, extreme weather, and wildfires are regularly used by organizations to plan ahead and mitigate climate-related dangers.

Earthjustice and KFAI filed the suit at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday, February 24.

"The Trump administration erased climate data from the USDA," Earthjustice said in a statement on Instagram. "Not because the crisis isn't real, but because the truth is inconvenient."

"In 2023, droughts, floods, excessive heat caused $22B+ in crop losses. Farmers need info, not censorship... We're suing to stop the Trump administration's climate censorship that threatens farmers and our food supply."

Wes Gillingham, head of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, told the New York Times that the Trump administration's move was "senseless" and driven by a political agenda.

"Right now, because of climate change and because of what farmers are facing in terms of extreme weather events, we need every piece of available information we can get," he said.