U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has published a detailed preview of the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024, laying out a path forward in the extended process to secure a new Farm Bill. A product of years of dialogue, and reflecting aspects of over 100 bipartisan marker bills, this proposal is a step forward, and is thoughtfully crafted to center the needs of farmers and ranchers across the country. We welcome this progress, and applaud Chairwoman Stabenow for her leadership and ongoing work in service of our food and agriculture systems and the people who power them.
Concurrently, U.S. House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn G.T. Thomson (PA-15) published a broad summary of key provisions of the House Farm Bill. We look forward to reviewing a more detailed draft later this month when the bill language is released ahead of an anticipated committee markup on May 23.
We appreciate the progress that these two visions represent, and recognize that the Farm Bill process is one defined by compromise. Though there is much work to be done to achieve bipartisan and bicameral agreement, we see the releases as healthy discourse in service of crafting a bill that meaningfully addresses the many challenges facing farmers and ranchers, and particularly Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) farmers.
“Our 2022 Young Farmer Agenda is clear about the meaningful and necessary changes to federal farm policy that the new generation of young farmers and farmers of color need in order to steward the sustainable and resilient food systems our communities will depend on into the future,” said Michelle Hughes, Co-Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition. “We are heartened to see the Senate Farm Bill priorities include steps toward more equitable land access and transition, support for the conservation practices young farmers are already leading on their farms, expanded investment in farmer mental health and well being, and more. While there is much more that farmers are calling for, and that Congress can do to address their needs and challenges, we see yesterday’s announcements as bringing us one step closer to that shared goal.”
The Senate proposal includes a number of provisions that we see as directly responsive to priorities laid out in the 2022 Young Farmer Survey Report and our policy advocacy efforts over the last several years.
Access to Land and Capital
Equitable access to affordable, quality farmland is a foundational need of the growers and land stewards across the country, and is closely linked to accessibility of affordable capital. We are grateful and encouraged to see that the Senate outline directly addresses several land and credit access needs that farmers in our network have been asking for. Highlights include:
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- Amending Heirs’ Property Relending Program to authorize grants and cooperative agreements, in addition to loans;
- Investing in cooperative agreements with heirs’ property and fractionated land legal clinics;
- Improving eligibility language for farm ownership loans to recognize one year of farming experience or an established relationship with a mentor approved by the Secretary;
- Increasing the total amount any one borrower may owe on microloans from $50,000 to $100,000;
- Clarifying and affirming the important role of Buy-Protect-Sell transactions within the Agricultural Land Easement Program;
- Reauthorizing and amending the Commission on Farm Transitions, expanding the scope of the Commission to include addressing unique barriers faced by historically underserved farmers and ranchers.
“I might be a young farmer, but here in Indiana County, and across Pennsylvania, farmers are aging,” said Jane Kaminski, a young farmer advocate in Pennsylvania. “We’re reaching a point where many farmer-landowners will be transitioning their land, planned or unplanned. At the same time, young farmers and BIPOC farmers are faced with a lack of access to affordable land… Lack of secure land tenure, including the lack of access to land in the first place, is a crisis faced by the next generation of American farmers. We need a farm bill that will meaningfully address the land access crisis and support the young people who will steward the future of our food system.”
Climate Action
We are heartened to see several provisions within the Conservation Title that acknowledge the important role that our nation’s farmers play in protecting our climate and stewarding farmland and natural resources. The Senate framework will support farmers as they implement on-farm conservation practices by permanently authorizing conservation programs, permanently expanding baseline conservation funding, and investing in initiatives rooted in the real-life challenges farmers face today. Other highlights include:
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- Pathways for small farms to utilize conservation programs through a 10% set-aside within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for small farms;
- Authorization for NRCS to enter into cooperative agreements with eligible entities to support farmer-led conservation education, a necessary tool in supporting farmer education to combat climate change; and
- Amendment and expansion of purposes and definitions for key conservation programs, such as EQIP and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, to include activities that promote greenhouse gas emission reductions and other climate-friendly activities, as well as increasing baseline funding for these programs.
Additional Priorities Reflecting the Young Farmer Agenda
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- Investment in local and regional food systems: including increased funding for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, improvements to the Produce Prescription Program and the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive, increased appropriations for the Local Agriculture Market Program, and improved processes for farmers to receive SNAP and participate in other nutrition programs;
- Increased funding for Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network providing necessary mental and behavioral health support for producers;
- Creation of an Office of Small Farms, requiring the Secretary to designate a Small Farm Coordinator at each agency and in each State, and providing associated microgrants to small-scale farms and ranches; and
- Maintained funding and included interpretation and translation services for the Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach project to continue beginning farmer training programs and outreach to farmers of color.
Though there is much work ahead to reach a bipartisan agreement on the details of the next Farm Bill, we are excited to see this progress, and will continue to advocate for the policy priorities of the young and BIPOC farmers in our network.
The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at www.youngfarmers.org, and on Twitter, Facebook,YouTube and Instagram.