Rest Next Farm Bill
The House and Senate Agriculture Committees are still working on the 2024 Farm Bill. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) will meet in Washington DC at the end of this month to fine-tune our priorities based on new developments, discuss strategy, and prepare for meetings with Members of Congress and their staff on February 1, our day on Capitol Hill.
Frankly, I have not really kept up with the latest Farm Bill developments or other federal level policy matters related to organic and regenerative agriculture and food systems. I aim to get back on track at the NSAC meetings. VABF farmer member Janet Aardema and I will meet with agricultural policy staff with Virginia’s two Senators and three of our Representatives.
The following synopsis lists the Farm Bill priorities covered in recent newsletters, all of which remain current. Watch for a more edifying update next month.
What do we want in the next Farm Bill?
Make Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding permanent.
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) conservation program funding for climate smart agricultural and forestry practices must become a regular part of the Farm Bill. See NSAC blog posts on positive impacts of IRA conservation funding, including increased dollars available to farmers, links to 20 farmer stories, and helping farmers make their operations more resilient to extreme weather.
Strengthening Organic Agriculture Research (SOAR) Act in the House
Organic Science and Research Investment (OSRI) Act in the Senate.
These acts would expand funding for the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) to $100 million by 2028 and provide Congressional authorization for the Researching the Transition to Organic (RTOP) program, formerly known as “organic transitions” (ORG). These bills also mandate cross-agency coordination of organic research and direct the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS) to expand organically managed acreage in its field trials. To learn more, see the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) blog posts on SOAR and OSRI.
Other Farm Bill initiatives include:
- The Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS Act), modeled on California’s Alternative Manure Management Program, would help livestock farmers reduce methane emissions and protect water through manure composting and pasture-based production.
- Reforms to Crop Insurance and Commodity Payments programs so that they support smaller to midscale diversified farms, not just industrial scale commodity production.
- The Strengthening Local Meat Economies Act and the Strengthening Local Processing Act would support independent livestock farmers and meat processors.
- Click here for more information on these and other Marker Bills that NSAC has initiated, helped to shape, or supported.
Call your Senators and your Representative today to urge them to advocate for including the above measures in the Farm Bill. While the Senate and House Agriculture Committees will draft the Farm Bills to be introduced on the floor of both chambers, all Members of Congress play a significant role in shaping the final Farm Bill that goes to the President to be signed into law. Let our Senators and your Representative know what you need and want in the next Farm Bill. When you call, ask to speak with the staff personon agricultural issues. You can reach Senator Mark Warner at 202-224-2023 and Senator Tim Kaine at 202-224-4024. If you do not know your Representative’s phone number in DC, call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
NOTE: in Virginia, Rep Abigail Spanberger (D-7th) is our one member of the House Agriculture Committee, and she has been a strong advocate for sustainable, organic, socially just, and climate-friendly agriculture. If you are in her district, thank her for all she has done and tell her your story and your highest priorities for the Farm Bill.
2024 EQIP and CSP in Virginia – There is Still Time to Apply
Application Ranking Date March 8, 2024
Virginia NRCS is inviting farmers to apply for contracts under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Submit your application with proposed conservation practices for your farm and/or forestland before March 8 and it will be considered for funding for the 2024 growing season.
In addition to regular Farm Bill funding for CSP and EQIP, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 has provided additional funding for both programs, specifically to support Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry practices such as cover crops, diversified and resource-conserving crop rotations, organic soil amendments, conservation tillage, and advanced grazing practices like management intensive rotational grazing and silvopasture.
With farmer demand for CSP and EQIP contracts far exceeding current funding levels, the supplemental IRA Conservation funding has been a tremendous boon, both for farmers seeking to participate in the highly oversubscribed and underfunded CSP and for the expansion of climate-smart farming practices. The more we use the IRA funds here in Virginia and across the US, the stronger will be our case for making the IRA climate smart conservation investment a regular part of Farm Bill programs.
So, if you would like a “hands-up” to achieve your soil health, resource stewardship, and climate resilience goals, ask at your district conservation office about EQIP and CSP, or visit the Virginia NRCS website for more information. Ask about IRA funding for climate-smart practices.
Special Opportunity
James River Buffer Program
Designs and installs riparian forest buffer at no cost to you
If your farm is located within the James River watershed and you would like to plant a forested buffer to protect water quality, provide wildlife habitat, and improve farm biodiversity, check out the James River Buffer Program. The James River Association, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation are working with farmers and landowners across the middle and upper James River watershed to restore or create forest buffers that improve the quality of local waterways. The program works with you to select tree species, plants the buffer, and provides maintenance for the first three years at no cost to you. Plantings can include income generating species such as sugar maple for syrup production.
Other NSAC News Stories and Blog Posts
The Fifth National Climate Assessment: Implications for Agriculture
A team of climate scientists and other researchers has released the Fifth National Assessment of the impacts of climate change (NCA5). In a review of the NCA5 report, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) has summarized the agricultural implications, both general and region specific, of ongoing and predicted climate changes on agriculture and food systems, and of the framing of the report itself. Positive trends in the report’s approach include increased emphasis on agroecological approaches to soil health, climate mitigation, and resilience, and recognition of Indigenous and other traditional ecological knowledge as a key part of the climate solution as well as the disproportionate impacts of extreme weather events on communities of color. One disappointment is that the report still fails to give due attention to advanced and adaptive rotational grazing systems as a tool for reducing the net greenhouse gas footprint of livestock production.
