What Happened to the Farm Bill

(And Why do Environmentalists Care)

Submitted by Joanna Lasher, LWVSC Environment Chair
August 5, 2024

What is the Farm Bill?

According to the Congressional Research Service, “The Farm Bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. It provides an opportunity for policy makers to comprehensively and periodically address agricultural and food issues. In addition to developing and enacting farm legislation, Congress is involved in overseeing its implementation. The farm bill typically is renewed about every five years. Since the 1930s, Congress has enacted about 18 farm bills.” The budget projections for the 10 years for the 2018 farm bill was $867 billion. (Farm Bill Primer, Updated February 29, 2024.)

The massive sum of $867 billion and its impact through 12 categories of programs which affect the nation’s agriculture and food chain make it immediately obvious why there is a lot of controversy among legislators and their constituents over how the money will be spent.

I’ve identified three major groups who are major players in the development of programs for this bill:

The first is big agriculture, a small group of corporations who have controlled our food supply from farm to the marketplace, (including their army of paid lobbyists) who have been, by far, the primary beneficiaries of these funds. It has been felt that this was the cheapest, most efficient way to feed a large population. However, their use of chemical fertilizers poisons the water and the pollinators in addition to other wildlife and endangers our health. The practice of planting a very narrow list of engineered crops which use up the nutrients in the soil is unsustainable.

The second are the small to medium size family farms represented by a non profit organization called Farm Aid: www.farmaid.org. They are very concerned about corporate power in agriculture,

“Their unbridled power grants them increasing political influence over the rules that govern our food system and allows them to manipulate the marketplace—pushing down the prices paid to family farmers and driving them out of business.

“ For eaters, extreme consolidation leaves fewer choices in the grocery aisle and higher prices, while corporate-written policies are sparking growing food safety concerns and less transparency in the marketplace.

“ In sum, our corporate controlled food system damages rural communities, local economies, public health and the soil and water needed to sustain food production….
(Corporate Power, Farm Aid Archives, p. 2)

What Farm Aid wants in the 2023 Farm Bill

They support a Farm Bill that:
“Endorses policy platforms of our partners including National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition (PDF), RAFI, National Family Farm Coalition (PDF), RAFI National Family Farm Coalition (PDF) and others….”

They support a Farm Bill that:
“Addresses the economic crisis of family farms…
Reforms our industrialized agricultural system…
Addresses the corporate monopolies that dominate our food system…
Protects our soil and water and addresses the existential threat of climate change…”

(What Farm Aid Wants in the 2023 Farm Bill, https://www.farmaid.org/issues/farm-policy/what-farm-aid-wants-in-the-2023-farm-bill/ through investing in organic agriculture funding and research, increasing the funding of conservation programs, expanding programs that incentivize climate mitigation practices and prioritizing climate change, soil health and regenerative agricultural research. p. 1 of 9)

The farm industry most impacted in New York State is Dairy. Dairy Farms in America have gone from 460,000 in 1970 t0 28,000 in 1922 (USDA Milk Production Report, May 2023) The cost of production for farmers has risen due largely to the increase of input costs like fuel and feed, while the value of U. S. milk has been kept artificially low so that it can compete as an export on the global market (“U.S. dairy policies drive small farms to ‘get big or get out’ as monopolies get rich,” The Guardian, January 2023 ).

The result is that the average U.S. dairy farm has been in the black only twice since 2000, while profits of dairy cooperatives, export companies, and dairy lobbyists have ballooned (“Economic Costs of Food Monopolies: The Dirty Dairy Racket,” Food and Water Watch, 2023).

This is important to New Yorkers because it impacts food security and impacts the rural economy, not only through the farms themselves, but all the local businesses that service them in our region. Dairy farms are stewards of about 17.4 thousand acres of the land in our state, according to the 2017 census, and today large industrial farms pollute more and emit more greenhouse gases than family run operations because of the way they operate and process their waste. (“Dairy Decline: The Harsh Reality for Farmers and What We Can Do About it,” Farmaid.org 2023)

The third are the non-profit environmental groups. The leading one lobbying for goals in this Bill appears to be the Natural Resources Defense Council based in New York City, but with offices around the country and internationally. They have about 2 million members and a staff of about 500 lawyers, scientists and policy experts.

Their website (www.nrdc.org) lists the following priorities:

1. Reducing barriers to organic agriculture

2. Reducing food waste across the food system

3. Incentivizing cover crops to boost healthy soils

4, Extending and expanding support for healthy soil practices

5. Expanding access to clean energy

6. Providing support for effective rural sanitation

7. Building food systems and advancing equity

“Additional Considerations

Defending against policy riders and attacks that undermine protections for public health and and environment and make it harder for farmers to put food on the table….

(NRDC Fact Sheet 2023 Farm Bill Priorities)

NRDC also strongly opposes any provisions that threaten to slash critical investments made in the 117th Congress dedicated to supporting climate-smart agricultural policies that will help protect the livelihoods of farmers and producers and secure a safe, reliable food supply in the face of a changing climate. (Fact Sheet 2023 Bill Priorities, pp 1-2.)

The last Farm Bill (2018) expired in 2023. The controversy over the broad goals and objectives of this Farm Bill have continued into 2024 with many divisions, often along party lines, delaying renewal.