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American Farmland Trust Announces 2023 Farm Bill Platform

WHAT: “Building Resilience in a Changing World: AFT’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform”

A new Farm Bill is approaching in 2023, and since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, a lot has changed. A global pandemic, war, supply chain disruptions, inflation, extreme weather, renewed attention to systemic inequity, and other events have altered our lives and priorities in countless ways. Never before has there been greater need to build a more resilient farm and food system with programs and policies that advance farm viability, benefit rural communities, support greater diversity and equity, protect critical farmland acres, and combat climate change.

During this one-hour event, AFT leadership, farmers, and other experts will share their “view from the field” about the opportunities and challenges our farmers are facing. Doug Wolfgang, long-time director of Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program will speak about the positive benefits farmland protection has brought to Pennsylvania’s farmers and rural economy. Sheryl Hagen-Zakarison, a wheat farmer from Washington State will detail the challenges their farm has faced due to climate change and their recent transition to climate-smart growing practices, and a third speaker (invited) will discuss the challenges they have faced accessing farmland, and share what has helped them find and afford land. AFT staff will then present the organization’s 2023 Farm Bill policy platform, informed by hundreds of stakeholders from across the nation and designed to build a more resilient future and address many of the challenges farmers and ranchers are facing.

WHEN: Tuesday, July 26th from 1:00 ET/10:00 PT – 60 minutes with 30-minute Q&A to follow

Agenda 

Welcome – Tim Fink, AFT Policy Director

Opportunities and Challenges in Agriculture – John Piotti, AFT President and CEO

Field Perspectives – Moderated by Andrew Bahrenburg, AFT Deputy Policy Director

• Farmer Sheryl Hagen-Zakarison (Zakarizon Partnership, Pullman, WA)
• Doug Wolfgang, Bureau Director, Farmland Preservation, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
• Farmland Access Speaker (invited)

AFT’s 2023 Farm Bill Policy Platform –

• Cris Coffin, AFT Senior Policy Advisor and National Agricultural Land Network Director
• Samantha Levy, AFT Climate Policy Manager
• Emily Liss, AFT Federal Policy Associate

Thank You & Next Steps for Engagement and Action – Tim Fink, AFT Policy Director

Q&A to Follow – (30 min)

WHERE: Virtual webinar, please register here. 

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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.