Sarah King is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog. What is the program? In an effort to address the impact of discrimination experienced by farmers and ranchers, Congress has authorized the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program, which will give money to people who were discriminated against in USDA farm lending…
Beverly Bolster is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland and a guest contributor to this blog. Earlier this year, Senators Heinrich (D-NM) and Braun (R-IN) introduced the Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Act of 2023 in the U.S. Senate to provide funding for the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture to jointly research agrivoltaics. In the bill, an “agrivoltaic…
Olivia Scuderi is a University of Maryland undergraduate student and guest contributor to this blog. Given the advanced age of the average American farmer, addressing the need for young and beginning farmers is critical to stabilizing the U.S. food system. Similarly, farm viability for small and medium-sized farms is vital to the future of agriculture. As a young farmer about…
Marisa Koontz is a law student at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She is a guest contributor to this blog. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, is a budget reconciliation package that provides approximately $770 billion in new spending to reduce the federal government…
Eric Surgarman is a law student at Lewis & Clark Law School and a guest contributor to this blog. Over 1 billion pounds of pesticides (you read that right, 1,000,000,000 pounds) are applied annually in the United States alone, and with agriculture being responsible for approximately 85-90% of pesticide use, the millions of farmworkers who supply the nation’s food bear the…
Hazel Spires is a law student at the University of Oregon School of Law and a guest contributor to this blog. Agriculture is a cornerstone of the American economy, relying heavily on a diverse workforce of around 2.4 million people. However, a significant language gap among farmworkers poses a serious challenge in ensuring their safety and well-being. Language access in the…
Beverly Bolster is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland and a guest contributor to this blog. Sustainable farming practices, such as planting cover crops, applying compost to fields, rotating crops, and not tilling soil, can create long-term benefits for farmers, increase crop productivity, and benefit the entire food system. However, these methods may require increased costs or labor…
Olivia Scuderi is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland and guest contributor to this blog. Farm Bill briefings are a critical process in preparing and evaluating current issues in agriculture. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) hosted a briefing on June 21 in the Russell Senate Office Building with four diverse panelists. Speakers consisted of Samantha Levy,…
Marisa Koontz is a law student at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She is a guest contributor to this blog. On June 3, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, H.R. 3746 (also known as the debt ceiling deal), into law after weeks of negotiations. These negotiations took place under a pressure cooker…
Kaitlynn Dixon is a law student at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and a guest contributor to this blog. Using the 2023 Farm Bill, Congress should implement citizen suit provisions to provide the public and stakeholders the power to hold the USDA accountable for carrying out directives the Farm Bill mandates. A citizen suit provision would establish…