In late April, Congressional House and Senate agricultural leaders announced plans to start the five-year farm bill process anew in May. The farm bill has been stalled since the first of the year following the great compromise around the "fiscal cliff'. At that time, along with deals on expiring tax breaks and spending cuts, Congress passed a nine-month extension of the old farm bill. That extension was flawed in that it extended wasteful commodity spending while leaving out support for new or beginning farmers, rural development, organic and specialty crop programs, and even disaster assistance.
But now the new Congress is ready to start over, and with that comes hope for a full five-year bill before the extension expires September 30. Leaders say they hope for debate by Memorial Day or early June.
However, the farm bill will still be crafted within the overall context of the larger national budget debate. Thus far, after several rounds of budget cuts to agricultural programs, Congress still appears to supports unlimited subsidies to the largest farms over those programs that make critical investments in rural America, the next generation of farmers, conservation, and our food future.
Also, statements from leaders indicate the House and Senate agricultural draft budgets still contain significant differences in how savings or cuts will be made. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) and conservation programs appear to be in the crosshairs.
As the full debate begins, pieces of the farm bill and other "marker' bills dealing with the farm bill are being introduced. In early April, the Local Food, Farms and Jobs Act was reintroduced in both House and Senate, as was a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act .
The LOCAL FARMS, FOOD AND JOBS ACT addresses production, aggregation, processing, marketing, and distribution barriers that limit growth in local and regional food markets. The bill also makes targeted investments in pro-grams that create jobs and spur economic growth through food and farms.
According to the National Sustain-able Agriculture Coalition, the bill includes several sustainable agriculture programs that were left stranded and without funding by the farm bill extension passed earlier this year. These include the Farmers Market Promotion Program, National Organic Certification Cost Share Program, and Value-Added Producer Grants.
"For an investment of just over $100 million a year, the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act can help a growing sector of the food system flourish," said Hoefner. "This investment is tiny in overall farm bill terms - roughly one-tenth of one percent of total farm bill spending - but big in its power to deliver real, lasting, and market-based benefits to farmers, consumers, and communities."
Specific proposals include:
Whole farm revenue insurance. USDA's Risk Management Agency would be instructed to develop an insurance product that would protect diversified operations including specialty crop, organic, mixed grain and livestock operations, and contract producers.
School meals.The bill will improve institutional access to local and regional foods through a series of provisions regarding school meal procurement.
Rural Development. The bill restores funding to the Value-Added Producer Grant Program to $20 million a year and improves its delivery, with an emphasis on regional market and supply chains.
Farmers Markets and Local Food. The legislation will establish $20 million a year in mandatory farm bill direct funding for the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. The expanded program will support direct farmer-to-consumer marketing but also will provide grants to scale up local and regional food enterprises.
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. The bill would expand the purpose of the Specialty Crop Block Grant program to include the consumption and availability of local/regional specialty crops, the profitability and ecological sustainability of specialty crops, and the affordability of specialty crops for low income consumers.
National Organic Certification Cost Share Program. The legislation would renew funding for national organic certification cost share to help organic producer with the costs of certification.
The BEGINNING FARMER AND RANCHER OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2013 was also introduced in both houses in late April. The bill will reduce barriers, such as credit and land access issues, that new agriculture entrepreneurs face, and invests in successful new-farmer training programs and grants to help farmers capture more of the retail food dollar through value-added enterprises.
Specifics include: Expanded Credit. It includes a microloan program A microloan program for young, beginning or veteran farmers seeking start-up capital, and would establish greater flexibility for beginning farmers to meet FSA loan eligibility to buy farmland.
Access to farmland. The bill would help new farmers access land to start or expand their farming operations by continuing and improving the successful Down Payment Loan Program.
New Farmer Training Programs. The bill would renew funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, which provides grants to organizations and institutions to establish new farmer training programs. This is the only federal initiative that is exclusively dedicated to training the next generation of farmers and ranchers.
Value-Added Enterprises.The bill would invest in the popular Value-Added Producer Grants program, which provides grants to farmers to scale up their businesses and add value to their products in order to meet surging consumer demand for high quality, farm-based, value-added food products. Value-added enterprises have proven to be an especially useful business model for new farmers seeking to capture as much profit as possible in order to build a stable farm business.
As the farm debate continues, pieces of the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act and Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act will hopefully make their way into the 2013 Farm Bill, and we will see an investment in this growing area of agriculture.
(With help from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Check out their website at:
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