Farm Bill

Table of Contents

	Introduction
	Conservation Programs
	Opportunities For Rural Development and New Markets
	Support for Beginning and Minority Farmers
	Food Security, Nutrition and Health
	Research and Extension
	Technology Transfer
	Renewable Energy and Biofuels

2007 Farm and Food Policy Platform

In 2007, Congress will renew the Farm Bill. This important legislation should more aptly be called the Food, Farm, Conservation and Energy Bill because its collection of policies impact all aspects of our food and farm system. Unfortunately, what we want and need from our national farm policy and what the Farm Bill has delivered have not been in balance. Historically the majority of farm payments have been in the form of commodity subsidies that flow disproportionately to large farms growing a handful of commodity crops in a few regions of the country. Much less support has gone to diversified farming regions like California that grow fruit and vegetable crops. And far too little funding has gone to support regional and sustainable farming practices that deliver maximum environmental and economic benefits, as well as a diverse supply of healthy foods.

Agriculture is among California's most important economic sectors. In 2005, our farmers and ranchers produced nearly $31 billion worth of goods, roughly 50% of the nation's fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts and more than half of all organic produce sold in the US. Our farmers, especially small- and mid-sized growers, are facing increasing pressures including high energy costs, serious environmental challenges, growing development and regulatory pressures, and stiff competition from developing countries.

Despite the enormous wealth of many Californians, poverty, hunger and poor nutrition remain in both rural and urban areas. The federal Food Stamp program, the landmark nutrition program in the Farm Bill, helps families fight hunger, malnutrition and obesity by ensuring that they have access to money to purchase food. Yet millions of California's in need do not use or have access to this vital safety net program. And although we produce 350 varieties of crops in California, many limited resource inner cities and isolated rural areas have no retail grocery outlets available for residents, let alone farmers' markets or other sources for fresh food. In recent years, new innovative models have emerged to address these gaps, such as farmers markets, farm to institution programs, new investment in retail outlets, and urban farms. Yet, federal policy has under invested in these efforts and undervalued the impact that they have on total community health - from improving nutrition and reducing obesity to creating jobs and increasing civic participation.

Nearly $300 billion in taxpayer dollars is at stake over the next five years. The California Coalition for Food and Farming's alliance of more than 45 environmental, agriculture, and nutrition organizations is working to bring urban and rural constituencies together to rally California Congressional support for Farm Bill legislation that embraces our vision for a more just and sustainable agriculture and food system. In the coming year, we are urging our California Congressional delegation - urban, suburban and rural alike - to advocate for a Farm Bill that:

• Provides farmers better opportunities to protect our water, air, wildlife habitat, and farmland by increasing funding and improving the effectiveness of conservation and technical assistance programs.
• Maintains a vibrant and competitive agriculture sector by supporting diverse fruit and vegetable production, especially for small- and mid-sized producers, organic and sustainable agriculture, local and regional market development, beginning and minority farmers and sustainable biomass crops.
• Increases access to fresh, local, healthy and nutritious foods, especially in limited resource communities of color, by investing in new retail, improving the quality and quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables served in schools and other public instiutions, expanding farmers' markets, and increasing the buying power of food stamp recipients, the elderly and other consumers with limited income.
• Increases research and extension programs in areas such as sustainable and organic agriculture, public plant and animal breeding, renewable energy and conservation, minority and beginning farmer outreach, agricultural and rural entrepreneurship and public health.
• Increases support for renewable energy and environmentally sound biofuels development.
• Assures equity and fairness by implementing meaningful payment limitation reform and gradually replacing commodity subsidies with a new system of farm income stabilization policies.

CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

California's agricultural industry has taken a significant toll on our state's soil, water and air resources. The state's reliance on chemical intensive farming practices has a particularly negative impact on California's water and air quality, where per acre use of pesticides is almost ten times the national average. The Conservation Title in the 2007 Farm Bill provides a critical opportunity for California farmers and ranchers to increase their access to the technical assistance and cost sharing programs they need to protect our lakes, rivers, bays, and wildlife habitat, and preserve farm land in the face of urban sprawl.

Until now, these programs have been severely underfunded, with three out of four applicants nationally seeking conservation assistance turned away. California farmers face more significant water conservation and water quality challenges and greater air pollution and pesticide regulations than nearly any other state, we ranked 28^th in conservation payments on average from 1995-2004. In addition, the complexity of multiple sign-ups, applications, and various program rules make it difficult for farmers and ranchers to effectively use many of these federal programs.

This trend can and must be reversed in the 2007 Farm Bill. By significantly increasing funding and streamlining application processes for these conservation programs, California farmers and ranchers can get the help they need to comply with the state's stringent air and water regulations, mitigate the severity of climate change, protect wildlife habitat and generate a cleaner environment and healthier food for rural and urban communities alike. These programs must be made more effective for California agriculture. This will require programs that support more innovative land management practices and approaches, encourage higher environmental performance, support cooperative efforts among farmers, significantly improve technical assistance and establish more robust monitoring and assessment programs.

Environmental Quality Incentive Program

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides cost-share and incentive payments to farmers to implement practices that deliver environmental benefits such as clean water, clean air, and enhanced wildlife habitat. With a $47.4 million state budget in 2004, EQIP is one of the most popular conservation programs in California, with more than 4000 eligible producers in California rejected last year due to lack of funds. In order to ensure more EQIP funds for California, the 2007 Farm Bill should:

• Double EQIP funding to $2 billion per year.
• Establish EQIP cost share payments which recognize the benefits of organic farming systems.

• Require NRCS to implement an ecologically based "Integrated Pest Management Initiatives" in regions with significant pesticide threats and where producers need help to comply with state regulations.

• Ensure greater environmental performance by requiring that EQIP applications be evaluated based on how cost-effectively and comprehensively they address designated resources of concern (e.g., water quality, air quality, habitat for at-risk species).

• Create an air quality subprogram within EQIP to help producers address air quality concerns in agricultural regions that do not meet federal air quality standards.

• Prohibit EQIP funding for new or expanded Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

Conservation Security Program (CSP)

The CSP supports conservation on farms and ranches of all sizes by providing payments for producers who practice good stewardship, with larger payments given for higher levels of performance in conserving soil, water, air, plant and animal resources. The CSP was authorized at $3.77 billion/year in the 2002 Farm bill as a mandatory entitlement program but is currently funded at $259 million. This shortfall has resulted in extremely limited access for thousands of eligible California farmers. Furthermore, CSP's payment structure prevents organic farmers from obtaining the benefits they deserve from the program. The 2007 Farm bill should:

• Fully fund CSP at at least $3 billion per year, to increase accessibility for all eligible farmers.
• Direct CSP to prioritize evaluation of organic conservation practices (such as cover cropping, composting and crop rotations) for purposes of revising the program scoring system. The CSP should also streamline the process so that Organic System Plans can be used as a basis for CSP applications with some additional requirements. CSP rules should be modified to allow farm operations who recently purchased sustainably farmed land to qualify for CSP payments.

Technical Assistance

Current technical assistance programs are woefully inadequate for assisting farmers to increase their stewardship and sound land management practices. NRCS is hampered by inadequate staffing and lack of funding. Although the Technical Service Provider (TSPs) program is helping to augment the delivery of technical assistance to producers, few TSPs can provide effective comprehensive conservation planning or meet the specific needs of specialty crop or transitional/organic producers. The 2007 Farm Bill should:

• Increase technical assistance funding and amend the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) charter act to exempt technical assistance from the Section-11 spending cap.
• Enhance specialty crop and transitional/organic producer access to technical assistance by engaging private industry and nonprofit organizations and allowing more group based technical assistance delivery.
• Adjust NRCS's staffing mix to better meet technical assistance needs for comprehensive land management planning and for biodiversity and habitat conservation programs.

Organic Conversion and Stewardship Incentive Program

In order to help farmers meet growing market demand for organic food, the Farm Bill should establish a national Organic Agriculture Conversion and Stewardship Incentives Program to assist producers convert land and animals to certified organic production and adopt advanced organic farming conservation systems. Without this valuable support, fewer California farmers will be able to make the transition and retailers will increasingly go to cheaper global markets such as China and Mexico for organic products and key opportunities for economic and environmental benefits will be lost.

• Establish a National Organic and Stewardship Incentive Program at $50 million annually that prioritizes small and mid-sized growers and the adoption of advanced 100% organic farming conservation systems.
• Ensure that no less than 50% of the program funds go to support technical assistance.

Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP):

The FRPP helps preserve agricultural and ranch lands and prevent urban sprawl, which is consuming 50,000 acres of California farm and ranch land annually. Demand for conservation easement funding far outstrips available funds. The state's California Farmland Conservancy Program and other private agricultural land trusts would become even more effective if federal matching grants were made more readily available.

The 2007 Farm Bill should:

• Expand existing FRPP funding from $100 to 300 million per year
• Grant funds to existing programs operated by state and local governments and by private land trusts that have a track record of acquiring and holding agricultural conservation easements

Conservation Reserve Program and Wetlands Reserve Program

Current rules governing easement values for WRP lands, and rental rates for the CRP render these programs less effective in California where land values are much higher. The 2007 Farm Bill should:

• Change implementation provisions to account for states with much higher land prices.

Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) is a voluntary program for landowners who want to develop and improve fish and wildlife habitat on their land. NRCS has used this program recently to help landowners restore salmon habitat in California and five other states. WHIP has proved a popular and successful program, yet funding has been limited, averaging $60 million per year since 2002. The 2007 Farm Bill should:

• Increase its funding to $500 million per year and modify the program to ensure that priority is given to projects that assist in the recovery of threatened, endangered and other at-risk species, thereby relieving regulatory pressures on agricultural producers and other landowners. 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND NEW MARKETS

With increasing competition from cheap imports and other economic pressures, California farmers and rural communities are facing severe economic challenges. On average nationwide, farmers receive only 9% of the value of the food they produce. In recent years however, a resurgence of consumer demand for healthy, sustainably and locally produced food in urban areas has created new economic opportunities for farmers. The market for organic foods is growing especially fast, with sales projected to reach over $30 billion in 2007. In California, demand for sustainable food is also growing among important regional institutions such as hospitals, universities and even cities such as San Francisco, which has adopted a sustainable food policy. In 2005, however, only a small portion of USDA $344 million in rural housing and economic development funds in rural California went to help farmers and rural communities tap these emerging alternative markets and new business trends. Last year, Congress dedicated less than $40 million to promote local domestic markets. This represents a tiny fraction of the $20 billion spent on commodity programs and export subsidies.

The 2007 Farm Bill should provide more balanced marketing support to address local, regional, national and global markets. Rural and urban areas alike will benefit from more investment in value-added food processing, local and regional market development. Besides improving farm income and rural employment, these programs produce valuable environmental benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions from shorter transportation miles and reduced pesticide and chemical fertilizer use. The 2007 Farm bill should:

• Increase funding for the Value-Added Producer Grant Program, a program that helps increase income and farmer profitability by helping farmers plan new business ventures and pursue new market opportunities. In California, this program has supported the Davis-based Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) to help small farmers reach school and hospital markets. The program should receive mandatory funding of $60 million (an increase of $10 million), adding a new grant component to support the development of value chains with social, environmental, fair labor and/or fair trade standards.
• Authorize $45 million in annual mandatory funding for regional planning and technical assistance pilot projects targeting transportation and processing infrastructure to serve local and regional markets, with priority given to limited-resource and socially disadvantaged family farmers aggregating supply of food for institutional and underserved markets (expansion of Farmers Market Infrastructure Program under the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service).
• Reauthorize Organic Certification Cost-Share at $25 million to cover the increasing demand for and cost of organic certification services.
• Increase funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) to $20 million to build direct farmer-to-consumer marketing ventures and increase access to high quality locally produced healthy foods for urban residents. Farmers markets also give farmers a premium price for their product and create economic development opportunities for urban areas.
• Encourage certification, inspection and labeling initiatives that spur market-based efforts to increase farm income, environmental and farm worker protection, and meet increasing consumer and institutional demand for high-quality and source-verified foods.
• Increase funding and enhance impact of Rural Business Enterprise and Opportunity Grants by targeting food-related business with links to small- and mid-sized farmers. These programs delivered a combined $1.9 million to rural California in 2005, and offer important resources for entrepreneurship.
• Establish a new Competition Title that helps restore fairness and efficiency to market forces, particularly livestock markets, through strengthened and improved enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act and other measures. This is especially important for small-scale livestock producers in California seeking greater opportunities to process and sell their products both locally and regionally.
• Reduce Regulatory Barriers for Local Meat Processing in order to better support the growing local and regional market demand for natural meat products. This would help to support the development of environmentally friendly grass-fed meat and organic livestock production in California.
• Require and authorize funds for implementation of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) legislation.

SUPPORT FOR BEGINNING AND MINORITY FARMERS

Ensuring the long-term vitality of California's agricultural system will require attention and support for the growing ethnic diversity among our agricultural producers. Numbers of immigrant farmers in California are increasing rapidly, with Latino farmers growing the fastest (44% from 1997 to 2002). Many of these minority and new immigrant farmers are on the urban edges and are providing important employment opportunities and partnering with urban consumers to increase access to fresh, locally produced fruits, vegetables and other products. Historic discrimination and other barriers that limit access to credit, marketing, risk management, conservation and other programs impedes their ability to improve profitability and expand their operations. Given that the number of entry-level farmers replacing retiring farmers has decreased 30% in the past 15 years and that farmers over 65 outnumber those under 35 by more than four to one, policies are needed to encourage and support beginning and ethnically diverse farmers. The 2007 Farm Bill should:

• Reauthorize the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, providing $20 million in mandatory funding to provide farm credit financing to support beginning farmers and ranchers. This program was authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill, but has never been funded.
• Implement an Affordable Farming Program by applying the principles of the Community Reinvestment Act to the Farm Credit System, to provide grants and interest rate subsidies for farming activities to small-scale and minority farmers.
• Increase Funding for the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) Program to at least $3 million. ATTRA develops and shares information on sustainable farm management, production, and marketing with minority producers and other farmers and helps small and minority farmers access USDA credit, commodity, conservation and other programs.
• Fully fund the Outreach and Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Program at the 2002-authorized level of $25 million. The 2501 program has provided outreach to more than 100,000 farmers nationally, and is especially important for African-American, Hmong and Latino farmers in California. 
• Establish Individual Development Accounts, especially for new Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, modeled on California FarmLink's experience in California. California leads the nation in using Individual Development Accounts to support beginning farmers' ability to build assets for starting farm enterprises. With limited funding, FarmLink has helped 15 new farmers, through a matched savings program.

FOOD SECURITY, NUTRITION AND HEALTH

America's farm policies and highly industrialized agriculture system generate an abundance of cheap commodity crops and livestock. Much of this cheap production results in food that are calorie dense, nutrition deficient, and contain unhealthy levels of hormones and other additives. For example, low corn and soybean prices have spurred investment in high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans fats) have directly contributed to alarming obesity rates in the US. Many other chronic diseases, such as type-2 diabetes and heart disease, are directly influenced by the foods people eat and their level of access to healthy and affordable food.

These health conditions, which affect everyone, occur at much higher rates among people with low incomes and people of color. The federal Food Stamp program, the landmark nutrition program in the farm bill, helps families fight hunger, malnutrition and obesity related diseases by ensuring that they have access to money to purchase food. In California as many individuals are missing out on their food stamp benefits as those that are enrolled in the program, nearly 2 million, and even families that are enrolled report difficulties purchasing enough food, let alone more expensive healthy fresh produce. We must increase investment in federal nutrition programs, including the Food Stamp Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, infants and Children (WIC) and the national School Lunch program, in order to ensure that no adult or child has to face hunger and malnutrition.

Research in California has also shown a lack of grocery stores and other healthy food outlets in limited resource communities of color across the state. And those that are located in these communities charge substantially higher prices and offer fewer fresh and healthy options then markets located in more affluent communities. This situation limits the buying power of limited income families, reduces their consumption of fresh and healthy foods and undermines their ability to make positive diet choices that can improve their health. Investing in new retail and food-based economic development that increases access to minimally processed healthy food and builds connections with local agriculture, along with expanding nutrition education and food stamp outreach are key to preventing obesity and chronic disease, and reducing the long-term costs to society of treating diet related illness.

Overall, we need policies that promote a food system that is more responsive to the health needs of all Americans, including support for market incentives and institutional procurement policies that favor healthy food. In California, we are beginning to see new business models, investment and procurement policies and supply chain innovations in health care, university and city food procurement systems that are increasing access to and favoring healthier food. The 2007 Farm Bill should support these and other efforts to increase the availability of healthful and nutritious foods for all Californians:

• Increase food stamp benefits to help more people purchase healthy foods and improve outreach and efficiency in Food Stamp delivery and nutrition education, including simplifying application procedures and broadening eligibility, expanding the scope food stamp nutrition education program to serve all who are eligible for food stamps or at risk of hunger.
• Expand the scope and size of the USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPGP) to $60.5 million annual mandatory spending and add specific uses of fund in the following new program areas to meet the urgent need to supply healthy local foods to underserved markets¹:

• Seed grants to support the creation of community-based retail development in underserved areas such as mobile markets, independent grocers, co-ops, conversion of existing stores ($10 million)

• Institutional food service projects to support procurement of local food by school districts, municipal and state governments, and non-profit organizations, ($10 million)

• Support for metropolitan county, urban and peri-urban food production and handling to provide stable seasonal access to healthy food for underserved communities, ($10 million)

• Support for local food systems policy planning and implementation through food policy councils and food system networks (additional $5 million), and

• Scaling up of integrated handling of emergency and non-emergency local food in distribution networks of food banks, soup kitchens, and pantries (additional $3 million)

• Pursue policy changes to allow for geographic preferences and increased flexibility for school and other institutions and the Department of Defense Fresh program to purchase local and regional foods.
• Expand Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Pilot Program to all 50 states.
• Expand Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs to 2002 authorized funding level of $25 million and authorize FMNP farmers' markets to be certified for WIC fruit and vegetable vendor status to give greater opportunities for seniors, nutritionally at-risk women and children to buy fresh local healthy produce.
• Increase funding for Specialty Crop Purchases and DOD Fresh Program that delivers fresh fruit and vegetable purchases in schools. Preference should be given to growers who are engaged in conservation and IPM programs that demonstrate reduced pesticide use and improved soil health.

• Support the expansion of urban agriculture by investing in land acquisition and offering technical support to urban farms. Agriculture in urban areas allows residents to experience and participate in agriculture, building support for and understanding of farming beyond rural communities. In Sacramento a group of urban farmers have started an inner-city farmers' market in their community and are providing healthy fresh fruits and vegetables to their neighbors while earning income for their families

• Support research and pilot projects to increase access to healthy food through expansion of healthy food retail outlets. National research can identify the challenges and solutions for bringing new retail into underserved areas and pilot projects can demonstrate effective models that increase access while investing in communities and building connections with small and sustainable farmers.

RESEARCH AND EXTENSION

Agricultural research and extension is drastically under funded, especially in areas such as sustainable and organic agriculture, public plant and animal breeding, renewable energy and conservation, minority and beginning farmer outreach, rural entrepreneurship and public health. It also lacks adequate focus on the needs of family farms and ranches, cooperatives, small non-farm rural businesses, sustainable farmers and specialty crop producers. More participatory research in these areas is needed to help revitalize rural communities and deliver healthier food to consumers. Demand for sustainably produced and organic food continues to grow but research funding in these areas has been stagnant or declining. Organic and specialty crop farming's share of federal research dollars is tiny relative to the size of the organic sector. In order to remain competitive, the organic and specialty crop sectors need far more research dollars. This is especially important for California growers who produce nearly half of the country's organic and specialty crops, yet face increasingly stiff competition from Chinese and other low cost producers. The 2007 Research Title of the Farm bill should:

• Increase funding into organic agriculture research and outreach by:

• Establishing mandatory funding for the Integrated Organic Program (IOP) at least $15 million/year and expanding the IOP to include the Organic Research and Extension Initiative and the Organic Transition program, with greater emphasis on economics, marketing and policy research.
• Establishing a "Fair Share" framework at Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to ensure that funding of organic agriculture research moves towards the organic share of US retail food sales. (3% at end of 2006). This would entail a 5-fold increase in current funding to at least $20 million.

• Maintain current authorization funding for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program at $60 million. SARE has been an invaluable resource to help California farmers and ranchers improve practices that are economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible.
• Revise the focus of the National Research Initiative (NRI) to ensure that at least 33%, or a minimum of $20 million/year is allocated for outcome oriented research to improve environmentally sound food production, family farms and ranch profitability, environmental performance, and non-farm micro enterprise and other rural economic and community development strategies.
• Increase public funding and other incentives for Land-Grant Universities to maintain viable training and research programs for students in the basics of classical plant and animal breeding.
• Increase funding for public breeding projects that foster partnerships with non profits and farmers and ranchers with a goal of increasing publicly available seeds and animal germplasm for sustainable and organic production systems.
• Revise the focus of Small Farms and Rural Agricultural Communities Program to include proposals benefiting small and medium-sized operations, including self employment opportunities for new and beginning farmers and ranchers and increase funding from $5 million biennially to $9 million annually.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Disseminating information to farmers, ranchers, and communities is not only crucial, but it is mandated in existing law. However, current practice falls short of expectations and needs. Some programs, such as the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) and SARE require technology transfer as one criterion for receiving grant funding. This model should be replicated throughout other programs. The 2007 Farm Bill should:

• Require applications to contain a technology transfer or dissemination component.
• Provide incentives to the USDA NRCS, land grant institutions, ARS, and other organizations to reward effective technology transfer and remove the institutional barriers that prevent practitioners from incorporating technology transfer into their practices.
• Allow for and rank applicants higher for the use of demonstration projects in conservation programs such as EQIP.

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND BIOFUELS

America's agriculture industry consumes copious quantities of energy, both for its transportation and harvesting needs and to feed its heavy reliance on petroleum based fertilizers. However, it also has great potential to generate significant environmental and economic benefits through: a) expanded investment in farm-based renewable energy and energy efficiency and b) through the development of sustainable biomass resources and biofuels production that is processed in a way that is locally-oriented, and of significant benefits to small-scale and family farmers, rural communities and the environment. The farm bill should:

• Expand Energy Title funding to $1 billion dollars total.
• Increase funding for Section 9006 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency program to $250 million annually.
• Promote local use of specialty crop biomass waste for energy production and encourage farmer ownership and control of sustainable biomasss processing facilities through credit, incentives and a $25 million grant program.
• Fully fund USDA's support of the Biomass Research and Development Act as amended in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
• Modify the CSP to reward sustainable biofuels feedstock production.
• Create an Energy Reserve Program that would provide support for farmers near an existing or proposed biorefinery that commit to growing crops primarily for their energy value and agree to a set of best practices.
• Shift and increase 9010 funding to encourage cellulosic ethanol, biomass-fired boilers and other non-fossil sources of energy at biofuels plants. Put a special emphasis on native, perennial crops.
• Amend Section 9003 to be an Advanced Sustainable Biorefinery Program that would provide grants to help cover the cost of new or modified biorefineries that meet environmental performance standards for either biomass feedstocks or refining practices.²

For more information on this Platform, contact: Kari Hamerschlag, California Coalition for Food and Farming, 1205 Bonita Ave, Berkeley, Ca 94709; 510-295-4781, calfoodfarming@gmail.com

¹For more detail on these programs, see the Healthy Food and Communities Initiative put forth by the Community Food Security Coalition at http://www.foodsecurity.org

² For more details on these recommendations, see: THE 2007 FARM BILL: Integrating Clean Energy and Global Warming Priorities, Natural Resources Defense Council.