The lawsuit says the Agriculture Department is hindering farmers from using the data to make “agricultural decisions” while they also face a recent funding freeze.

The US Department of Agriculture is facing a legal challenge over its move to wipe out information on climate change from its websites.

The data, which disappeared from Agriculture Department sites in recent weeks, was useful to farmers for business planning, the lawsuit said.

Climate defenders and farmers sued the Trump administration in federal court on Monday over "the U.S. Department of Agriculture's unlawful purge of climate-related policies, guides, datasets, and resources from its websites.