Farm Bill

The Farm Bill is a massive piece of legislation that comes up every five years or so, and sets US policy for everything from food stamps and school lunches, to soil and water conservation, to subsidies for growing certain crops, to beginning farmer support programs, and so much more.

The last forty-plus years of Farm Bill policies have driven millions of farmers off the land; failed to protect our soils, water and air; spurred epidemics of obesity and diabetes; and threatened our ability to feed ourselves in the future.

Farm Bill in 2013

Last year major progress was made on the food and farm policy front. Draft versions of the never-to-be 2012 Farm Bill included long-overdue reforms, support for conservation and natural resources, and investments in beginning farmers and the future of farming. The only problem – the bill never became law and instead, despite bipartisan efforts to pass a complete bill, an incomplete farm bill extension was passed on New Year’s Eve as part of the “Fiscal Cliff” negations. Learn More →

2013 Farm Bill Updates and News

After over a year of hard work to get a 5-year, comprehensive farm bill passed for 2012, the Senate passed a simple extension of the 2008 Farm Bill on New Years Eve as part of the larger legislative package to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. The House approved the bill on New Years Day and President Obama signed it into law on January 2. The extension lasts one year and will expire on September 30, 2013. Congress has made a full, five-year farm bill a priority for 2013.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to consider amendments to the farm bill on May 14 and the House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to consider amendments on May 15, 2013.

Learn More →

The Farm Bill Extension and Beginning Farmers & Ranchers

March 14, 2013

This is the second post in our series of blogs highlighting how the current farm bill extension is affecting organic agriculture and local food systems.

This week we are featuring guest blogger Kelly Owensby, Project Manager of Transplanting Traditions Community Farm.  This program of the Orange County Partnership for Young Children (OCPYC) provides an amazing opportunity to displaced farmers from Burma who have recently moved to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. However, Kelly’s program is in desperate need of funding to keep it operational. OCPYC had planned to apply to several sources of USDA funding this year, however those funds are no longer available because of the current farm bill extension. Learn More →

The Farm Bill Extension and the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program

March 8, 2013

The farm bill extension that was included as past of the fiscal cliff deal on New Years Eve left out funding for many programs crucial to organic farming, rural development, farmers markets and rural communities. The extension also failed to cut the nearly $5 billion in direct subsidy payments that both the full Senate and the House Agriculture Committee had eliminated in both of their farm bill versions during last year’s failed farm bill process. For more information on the extension, please read our blog post from February.

Recently at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association we reached out to our members across the Carolinas to find out how this loss of funding is affecting farmers, researchers, farmers markets, and local communities. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing a series of blog posts highlighting the real effects that this extension is having on organic agriculture and local food systems. This post focuses on the loss of funding for the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (NOCCSP) and how it is affecting organic producers around the Carolinas. Learn More →