Farm bill drafts have arrived—kinda, almost. At the beginning of May, Senator Stabenow, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry Committee, released a summary and detailed Section-by-Section overview of the Senate’s proposed Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024. The House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson also released a summary of their Farm Bill proposal, with full text anticipated by the end of this week and markup set to begin on May 23.
This post offers a brief overview of policies included in the Senate Section-by-Section that closely align with FBLE recommendations for this farm bill. Those recommendations can be explored in detail on our reports page and in the following reports: Climate & Conservation (CC), Equity in Agricultural Production & Governance (EA), Farm Viability (FV), Farmworkers (FW), and Food Access & Nutrition (FAN). Below, we’ve included the section (§) reference from the Section-by-Section followed by the report initials and starting page number where the relevant recommendations can be found. Like many of you readers, we will be following the markup and negotiations process closely and expect to have more coverage over the coming months!
- Agroforestry & Perennial Agriculture
- Establishes a CRP Agroforestry Pilot Program (§ 2204, CC20)
- Amends TIP to allow transitions of land into agroforestry or other productive perennial systems during the transition contract (§ 2207, CC21)
- Expressly names perennial production systems including agroforestry and perennial forages and grain crops as “new or innovative conservation approaches” funded through On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials and doubles funding for the program to $50 million each year (§ 2306, CC15)
- Broadens the mission of the National Agroforestry Center, establishes at least one regional agroforestry center, establishes an agroforestry grant program, and doubles authorized appropriations to $10m/year (§ 8301, CC38)
- Authorizes funding for a triennial National Agroforestry Survey (§ 7126)
- Expands purposes of EQIP to expressly include climate change adaptation and mitigation (§2301, CC7, 13)
- Expands focus on carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in EQIP and CSP (§§ 2311, 2312, CC8)
- Streamlines ACEP-ALE and increases cost-share assistance (§ 2602, CC21)
- Establishes a platform for USFS to measure and report data on carbon emissions, sequestration, storage, and related impacts of forest management and wood products (§ 8103, CC28)
- Authorizes performance-based discounts in crop insurance for practices demonstrated to reduce relative risk (aligns with FBLE insofar as the list provided in the Section-by-Section indicates a focus on long-term risk mitigation through climate-friendly practices like crop rotations and cover crops) (§ 11103, CC24)
- Codifies authority to establish Climate Hubs and authorizes appropriations to support (§ 12305, CC46)
- Establishes program to inventory, monitor, and analyze soil carbon changes and direct USDA to develop standardized methodology for measurement and tools for modeling impacts (§ 12516, CC44)
- Authorizes NRCS to enter into cooperative agreements with farmer-to-farmer networks and other organizations and institutions to build out technical assistance (§ 2502, CC14)
Equity in Agricultural Production & Governance
- Heirs’ Property
- Authorizes USDA to make grants or agreements with entities to assist heirs’ property owners in resolving ownership and succession issues on farmland (§ 5106, EA32)
- Authorizes $10 million for cooperative agreements with 1890 Institutions, 1994 Institutions, and 1862 Institutions—in partnership with other organizations—to provide legal services to resolve heirs’ property and fractionated land (§ 7502, EA34)
- Civil Rights
- Establishes an independent Ombudsperson whose responsibilities would include referring complaints to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and reviewing progress of those complaints (§ 12203, EA24)
- Requires USDA’s transparency and accountability report be user-friendly (§ 12202, EA25)
- Establishes a system for recommending equitable relief in farm and conservation programs to a participant who files a civil rights complaint (§ 12206, EA53)
- Removes limitation on number of years a recipient can receive FSA direct farm operating loans (§ 5202, EA50)
- Expands the scope of the mandate for the Commission on Farm Transitions—Needs for 2050 to include study of barriers faced by historically underserved farmers and to make recommendations, in addition to requiring a report within 2 years (§ 12521, EA39)
- Requires state attestation and a documented response regarding the matching funds requirement to 1890 institutions (§ 7113, EA65)
- Market Supports
- Creates permanent authorization of Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (§ 10004, FV22)
- Removes matching funds for grants under the LAMP program and increases authorization of appropriations (§ 10003, FV18)
- Increases the National Organic Certification Cost-Share payment to $1,000 (less than the FBLE recommendations of $1500) (§ 10009, FV14)
- Expands the responsibilities of the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production and establishes mandatory funding for the Office, plus additional authorization of appropriations (§ 12208, FV26)
- Crop Insurance
- Improves access to whole farm coverage for beginning farmers under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program and creates onramp to Whole Farm Revenue Protection or Micro Farm insurance (§ 1601, FV12)
- Codifies and authorizes enforcement of requirements that approved insurance providers offer and market all plans for insurance for all agricultural commodities in any State where certain circumstances are met; this could help address the reported lack of availability of Whole Farm Revenue Protection policies (§ 11202, FV11)
- Improves effectiveness and simplifies access to Whole Farm and Micro Farm Insurance Plans (§ 11203, FV7)
- Requires additional outreach and education to underserved producers concerning risk management tools (§ 11206, FV11, CC27)
- Updates administrative and operating subsidies to be better tailored to the relative complexity of policies offered, which should increase the incentive/compensation for Whole Farm and Micro Farm insurance policies (§ 11302, FV10, CC26)
- Establishes Office of the Special Investigator for Competitive Matters to investigate and prosecute PSA violations (§ 12107, FV41)
- Lowers AGI cap for commodity program payments from $900,000 to $700,000 (§1104; FV30)
- Expands the role of Farmworker Coordinator to Farm and Food System Workforce Coordinator, with additional duties and reporting requirements (§ 12210, FW21)
- Requires establishment of a Farmworker and Food System Worker Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary (§ 12210, FW21)
- Requires establishment of a Farm and Food System Workforce Interagency Council (§ 12210, FW21)
- Establishes a grant program to provide assistance to grocery, farm, and food workers during times of disaster (§ 12211, FW22)
- Continues/makes permanent the self-determination contracts for ag commodities for FDPIR (§ 4102, FAN14)
- Requires USDA to issue guidance on SNAP eligibility and anti-hunger resources for college students (§ 4105, FAN17)
- Updates stocking standards for retailers to provide more healthy options (§ 4108, FAN34)
- Creates pathway to allowing hot foods to be purchased with SNAP benefits (§ 4116, FAN19)
- Authorizes Puerto Rico to transition to SNAP (§ 4116, FAN16)
- Simplifies some aspects of the SNAP application process and increases funding for innovation grants that support process and technology solutions (§§ 4111, 4113, 4115, FAN24)
- Increases funding for SNAP-Ed, requires consideration of traditional and culturally appropriate foods, and creates mechanism to share learnings (§ 4120, FAN35)
- Reduces the GusNIP match requirement and increases funding (§ 4403, FAN32)
- Sets stage for expanding existing large-scale GusNIP projects through cooperatives agreements (§ 4403, FAN32)
- Continues produce prescription program with the addition of review panels and creating two categories of grant awards (§ 4403, FAN33)
- Provides mandatory funding for HFFI but at a lower level ($5 million) than FBLE’s recommended level of $25 million each year (§ 4405, FAN37)
There are many other promising proposals on the table (too much to cover here), as well as some less exciting ones. We look forward to continuing to hear from our partners about their priorities and how we can collaborate to ensure Congress passes a strong bill!
