National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture

2008 Farm Bill Wins

After two years, a gazillion action alerts, phone calls, follow up phone calls and reminders, the 2008 Farm Bill was passed the week of May 12th by a veto-proof majority in both the House and the Senate. The following is a summary of wins in the Farm Bill. More detail is available at 2008_farm_bill_chart.php

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Conservation

Conservation Stewardship Program: originally passed in the 2002 Farm Bill as the Conservation Security Program, CSP is a program that rewards farmers for good stewardship. Available currently only in certain watersheds, the CSP will now have a continuous and nationwide sign up. Funding in this Farm Bill will be adequate to enroll 12.7 million acres a year through 2017. The new streamlined program retains strong stewardship standards and provides additional payments to farmers who adopt resource conserving crop rotations for the life of the contract. The program will also provide technical assistance appropriate to organic and specialty crop producers, and there is a payment limit of $200,000 in any five year period.

Biomass Crop Assistance Program: a promising new program that will provide incentive payments to farmers who grow eligible annual and perennial crops for bioenergy facilities. Project selection criteria include sustainability criteria and a preference for local ownership of biofuels plants. The main intent is to promote cultivation of perennial crops that show promise for producing highly energy efficient bioenergy, preserve natural resources and are not primarily grown for food or animal feed.

Conservation Reserve Program: offers payments to landowners willing to voluntarily convert highly erodible cropland and other environmentally sensitive lands to vegetative cover under 10 to 15 year contracts. This popular program has been extended to 2012. A new focus of the program will facilitate transfer of land nearing the end of a CRP contract to Beginning or Socially Disadvantaged Farmers or Ranchers. The new law also promotes outreach to producers who are planning to transition land out of CRP, encouraging protection of conservation values by enrolling the land in CSP.

Wetland Reserve Program: a voluntary program that provides technical and financial assistance to eligible private landowners who address wetland, wildlife habitat, soil, water, and related natural resource concerns in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner. This program was reauthorized with a maximum enrollment capped at 3 million acres/ 185,000 new acres annually.

Organic Agriculture

National Organic Certification Cost Share Program: helps to defray the costs of certification for farmers who want to be “certified organic” under the National Organic Program. The funding for this 2002 program has been increased to $22 million total over the life of the Farm Bill, with a payment limitation of $750 per farm.

Crosswalk to Conservation Stewardship Program Eligibility: an “easy crosswalk” between CSP and organic certification, allowing coordination so that producers can participate in both programs at once.

Conversion Assistance: a new payment authorized for practices related to Organic production and to the transition to organic production. There is a payment limit of $20,000 per year or $80,000 over 6 years, excluding payments for technical assistance.

Data Collection: provides $5 million in mandatory funds, with an additional authorization of $5 million annually, to collect and distribute comprehensive reporting of organic prices, producing surveys, analysis and reports on organic production, handling, distribution, retail, and trend studies.

Crop Insurance: there will be a review of risk and loss data for organic and conventional crops as a precursor to eliminating or reducing the current organic crop insurance surcharge.

Organic Research and Extension Initiative: this 2002 Farm Bill program has been strengthened to include $78 million annual mandatory funding, over 4 years, for grants that will include organic breeding, marketing, and policy research as priority areas within USDA Research, Education and Economics programs. Conservation and development of new and improved seed varieties for organic agriculture are new grant purposes added to the initiative.

Seeds and Breeds: provides competitive research grants for breeding techniques which rely on creating an organism with desirable traits through controlled breeding. This is critical to the development of seeds and breeds that are well adapted to local conditions and changing environmental constraints.

Competition and Concentration

Packers and Stockyards Act Reform: the USDA has been given two years to create regulations on a range of issues covered by the Packers and Stockyards Act, a law passed in 1921 to keep meat packers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices. There is also, for the first time, a Livestock Title in the Farm Bill with significant protections for contract growers of livestock and poultry. Contract reforms include a provision allowing producers to opt out of mandatory arbitration provisions, a right to cancel a contract within 3 days of signing; and full disclosure of any large capital investments required over the life of the contract.

Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling: allows U.S. consumers to know where their food came from by requiring retailers to label meat, fruits, vegetables, peanuts and farm raised fish by its country of origin. The new Farm Bill imposes new labeling requirements for beef, lamb, chicken, pork, and goat meat, certain nuts, ginseng and wild fish.

Interstate Shipment of State Inspected Meat: in order to help small facilities serving sustainable livestock producers, certain small plants may ship meat items with a federal inspection sticker. The USDA selects the plants and will provide technical assistance to state inspection agencies and small plants. Only plants with less than 25 employees are eligible, and the program excludes those that are now federal facilities. Grants are available to state agencies to assist in the transition.

Beginning and/or Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers

Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers: makes grants and contracts to entities that assist Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers in becoming owners and operators of farms and help them participate equitably in the full range of agricultural programs offered by the USDA. The authorized FY 2008 funding for this program was just $6.4 million. In contrast, the new Farm Bill provides, for the first time, mandatory funding at a level of $75 million over 4 years. The new bill also adds a requirement that outreach be language appropriate.

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program: First passed in the 2002 Farm Bill but never funded, this program will make competitive grants to entities providing education, outreach and technical assistance to beginning farmers. The new Farm Bill provides $78 million in mandatory funding over 4 years.

Individual Development Account Program: a pilot program to be offered in 15 states. The program will provide funds to match to the personal savings accounts of new farmers up to $6,000 per year to be used for the purchase of farmland, equipment, livestock or other farm assets. No mandatory funding has been provided for this program, so we will have to advocate for it in the annual appropriations process.

Rural Development and Local Food Systems

Value-Added Market Development Program: to help small and mid-size farms with planning grants and capital to process their raw products into marketable goods, thereby increasing farm income. The program has been reauthorized from the 2002 Farm Bill, and given $15 million in mandatory funding, with an option to authorize additional funding of $40 million annually. Priority will be given to Beginning or Socially Disadvantaged Farmers or Ranchers and to small- and medium-sized family farms. There is also a simplified application form and process for proposals of less than $50,000.

Rural Microenterprise Assistance Program: grants and loans to entities providing micro credit, training and technical assistance to start up or expanding rural businesses. RMAP will be provided $15 million in mandatory funding over 4 years with an additional authorization of $40 million annually.

Community Food Projects: to increase food security in communities by bringing the whole food system together to assess strengths, establish linkages, and create systems that improve the self-reliance of community members over their food needs. This program was given $5 million in mandatory annual funding. There is separate funding provided for the creation of Healthy Food Enterprise Development Centers to provide technical assistance for storing, processing and marketing locally produced agriculture products.

Business and Industry Loans: a new purpose for an existing guaranteed lending program that supports the creation of enterprises that process, distribute, aggregate, store, and market locally or regionally produced agricultural food products. Priority for projects that serve underserved communities (defined as urban, rural, and tribal communities with limited access to affordable, healthy foods including fresh fruits and vegetables and with a high rate of food insecurity or a high poverty rate). Local is defined as a product transported less than 400 miles. This program is funded at about $50 million per year.

Farmers Market Promotion Program: to make grants to eligible entities to establish, expand and promote farmers' markets. This 2002 program has been reauthorized with $33 million in mandatory funding over 5 years, now including agri-tourism activities as an eligible program focus.