After two years, a gazillion action alerts, phone calls, follow up phone calls and reminders, we finally have a 2008 Farm Bill! It passed the week of May 12th by a veto-proof majority in both the House and the Senate.
The bill includes concrete and far reaching victories for conservation, beginning and minority farmers, local food systems, sustainable biomass production, competition, organic agriculture and even public health. The sustainable agriculture movement needs to pause for a moment and give itself a collective pat on the back. We won big!
See also:
FARM BILL DIGEST #12, May 13, 2008
The Farm Bill Digest tracks developments around the National Campaign’s Farm Bill Priorities. You can read the full set of our priorities at: farm_bill_priorities.php
In this issue of the Digest:
Preliminary Report on Farm Bill Gains
House and Senate Agriculture Committee conferees announced last week that they had reached agreement on the 2008 Farm Bill. The bill includes substantive and far- reaching gains for sustainable agriculture. This Digest provides a preliminary report on the new bill.
Bush’s Veto Threat
President Bush has threatened to veto the compromise bill for its failure to include “much needed reform.” Supporters of the bill are hoping to win a two-thirds majority in both houses to fend off a veto. Calls are needed in key district and states to ensure this margin. Contact information for wavering Congressman and Senators can be found on our website later today. Go to Action Alerts: http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/action.php
FARM BILL DIGEST
May 13, 2008
Preliminary Report on Farm Bill Gains
House and Senate Agriculture Committee conferees announced last week that they had reached agreement on the 2008 Farm Bill. A formal conference report with the final language of the bill was posted on the House Agriculture Committee website this morning: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/FarmBill.html The bill may reach the House floor as early as tomorrow and could reach the Senate floor on Thursday. While expected to pass, supporters of the bill are hoping for a two-thirds margin to fend off a veto threat from President Bush. (See Bush’s Veto Threat, next article)
This Digest provides a preliminary report on National Campaign Priorities in the new bill. It is based on House and Senate press releases, general farm press reports and the good (but also preliminary) intelligence from the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the Community Food Security Coalition and other DC partners. Once we’ve had the opportunity to review and analyze the conference report we will post a more detailed assessment on our web site.
This bill includes substantive and far reaching gains for sustainable agriculture. It moves the ball forward for the Conservation Security Program, beginning farmers, local food systems, organic agriculture, sustainable biomass production, and rural development.
Organic Agriculture
Organic agriculture took a starring role in this farm bill. The Conferees agreed to provide $22 million in mandatory funding over 5 years for organic certification cost share, an increase of $17 million and a top NCSA farm bill priority. The bill also provides $5 million to fund an organic data collection initiative and a new program to provide financial assistance for organic conversion housed within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The Conservation Security Program to be renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program will include an easy cross walk to eligibility for organic farmers. The Organic Research and Extension Initiative, a competitive grants program, will be funded at $78 million over 4 years. While the bill retains the organic crop insurance surcharge it directs USDA to review risk data for organic and conventional crops and unless they find a significant variation the surcharge must be dropped or reduced.
Conservation
The Conservation Security Program, renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program is going national with a continuous sign up. The bill provides the resources necessary — $1.1 billion in new and mandatory funding — to enroll approximately 115 million acres in the CSP by 2017. The program and payment structure have been streamlined without weakening the environmental standards necessary to qualify. It also includes special payments for establishing resource conserving crop rotations.
Funding was also increased for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. This shift towards working lands conservation was made possible by an infusion of $4 billion in new funding as well as a $2.5 billion savings from the Conservation Reserve Program.
The $450,000 payment limitation for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program was reduced to $300,000 over six years. While the Campaign had pushed for a smaller payment limit this is a welcome development.
Renewable Energy
The bill provides $70 million over 5 years in mandatory funding for the Biomass Crop Transition Assistance Program. BCTAP is a program that will encourage farmers to grow annual and perennial biomass crops. Selection criteria include some sustainability criteria and a preference for local ownership both provisions pushed by the National Campaign’s renewable energy committee.
The Livestock Title
While we lost the packer ban in conference there are some significant farm bill gains for contract growers of livestock and poultry. Producers will be able opt out of arbitration clauses in their livestock or poultry production contracts. A contract grower will be able to have any dispute settled in the federal judicial district where he lives rather than where the company headquarters are located. Contract growers will have three days to cancel a contract after signing and the initial contract must disclose whether large capital investments will be required over the life of the contract.
The livestock title also directs USDA to define “undue pricing preference” to protect small and independent livestock producers from unjustified pricing practices that favor larger producers.
The bill also includes a Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) provision requiring retailers to label the country of origin of meat, fish, fruits and vegetables by September 30, 2008. The COOL provision retains the prohibition on the use of a mandatory National Animal Identification System to establish country of origin.
The bill also includes a compromise provision allowing the interstate sale of state inspected meat for certain small packers.
Rural Development
The new Rural Microenterprise Assistance Program was given $15 million in mandatory funding over 4 years. RMAP will provide small loans and technical assistance to rural entrepreneurs with low and moderate incomes to establish small businesses in rural areas.
The Value Added Producer Grant program took a hit to its funding receiving just $15 million in mandatory funding over 4 years although additional annual appropriations are authorized. The National Campaign had pushed for $40 million in mandatory funding for the VAPG. The bill, however, provides new grant priorities for projects that support local food system development and for small and midsize family farms and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
Local and Community Food Systems
The Community Food Project program was funded at $5 million annually over 10 years to make matching grants to community organizations working on local hunger, nutrition and food access issues.
The bill also includes a provision allowing local schools to establish a purchasing preference for locally produced fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats for school meals.
The bill establishes a new competitive grant program to spur innovation and local food infrastructure development particularly in underserved communities. The Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center will provide technical assistance and feasibility study grants to support enterprises to distribute and market healthy and locally produced food.
USDA’s Rural Business and Industry Loan Program now includes a priority for entities engaged in local food distribution and marketing Five percent (about $50 million a year) of the guaranteed loan funds are to be set aside for these types of enterprises.
Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers
Section 2501, a competitive grant program to assist socially disadvantaged farmers access USDA programs received $75 million in mandatory funding over 4 years, a significant increase over current authorized levels and a first time mandatory allocation.
The bill creates a new Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account pilot program available in 15 states to establish matched savings accounts for the purchase of farmland, farm equipment or livestock. No mandatory funding was provided so this new program will have to win funding in the annual appropriations process.
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program won mandatory funding of $75 million over 4 years to administer a competitive grants program for organizations providing technical assistance and other services to beginning farmers. This program was created in the 2002 farm bill but was never funded.
Bush’s Veto Threat
President Bush has threatened to veto the compromise bill for its failure to “include much needed reform.” His principal but not sole objection involves the payment limitations tied to adjusted gross income. The administration wants to exclude individuals with more than $200,000 in adjusted gross income. Instead, the conference bill appears to deny subsidies to individuals with $500,000 in non-farm income ($1 million for married couples). Individuals with more than $750,000 or $1.5 million for married couples are ineligible for direct payments but can still receive counter cyclical payments and loan deficiency payments.
The National Campaign worked hard to win the inclusion of the Dorgan Grassley payment limitation amendment which would have put a hard cap of $250,000 on farm subsidy payments and other reforms. Failure to win more substantial payment limit reforms is disappointing to us as well as to the Bush administration. But the many farm bill gains described above argue in favor of its passage.
Supporters of the bill are hoping to win a two-thirds majority in both houses to fend off a veto. Calls are needed in key districts and states to ensure this margin. Contact information for wavering Congressman and Senators can be found on our website later today. Go to action alerts: http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/action.php
© 2007-2008 National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.