Farm Bill Policy Updates and Legislation

Senate and House Agriculture Committee leaders are back at the table working out the differences between the House and Senate bills. The goal is to have both chambers vote on one unified version before the most recent Farm Bill extension expires on April 18.

Funding for a number sustainable agriculture priorities continues to hang in the balance, but this week's negotiations demonstrate that Rural Development programs are some of the most vulnerable. The recent funding framework put forward by some of the Agriculture Committee leaders on March 27th completely zeroes out funding for the Rural Development Title. This means, no funding for the Value-Added Producer Grant and no funding for the Rural Micro-Enterprise Assistance Program.

In addition, the conservation title is not faring well in the battle, a problem compounded by the proposed $5 billion permanent disaster program. A new tentative funding framework put forward by some of the Agriculture Committee leaders on March 27 cuts $1 billion from the Conservation Title programs to increase funding for a permanent disaster program. The Conservation Stewardship Program (the new and improved Conservation Security Program) is one of the conservation programs that could lose funding as a result.

Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Policy Updates

Organic Farming Research Foundation updates here

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