American Farmland Trust Statement on Senate Farm Bill Discussion Draft
The Farm Bill discussion draft text released this week by Chairman Boozman would make critical improvements to USDA conservation programs to better serve farmers, ranchers, and landowners. At the same time, there remain opportunities to improve upon the draft, such as by including additional programs and policies to further support farm viability, especially those serving local and regional markets.
The draft keeps within the Conservation Title the historic investment in conservation programs from the recent transfer of unspent Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding, while shifting dollars within the Title to pay for new conservation programs and program changes.
AFT welcomes the reforms proposed for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). With 2,000 acres a day of agricultural land lost or threatened by conversion, these two programs are critically necessary to stem the loss of productive agricultural land to development. The legislation makes improvements sought by landowners and program partners for years. These include increasing the federal cost-share for easement acquisitions, providing a lower cost-share option with no federal right of enforcement, extending entity certification to RCPP, exempting ACEP from the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) requirement, and ensuring that easement proceeds do not count against a landowner’s AGI for other Farm Bill programs. The draft also seeks to improve the process for “Buy-Protect-Sell” projects, enabling land trusts to purchase land, protect it through ACEP, and sell the protected land to a farmer or rancher – a tool that is helping create new land access opportunities for next generation producers. Together, these changes would enable more farmers and ranchers to protect their family’s legacy and tap into their land’s equity to improve their operation or transfer it to a successor.
The inclusion of a new standalone program that would match funding for state and Tribal conservation programs is a key step forward. Many states across the nation have been driving conservation innovation and filling gaps in federal support by creating their own programs to help farmers and ranchers increase profitability, reduce soil erosion, improve water and air quality, and build resilience to extreme weather by supporting the adoption of soil health practices. These programs drive innovation and are often implemented with more flexibility for farmers and ranchers. Many existing state programs are underfunded and oversubscribed, and a federal match can incentivize states without programs to create new ones. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress in creating a new state and Tribal match program primarily focused on soil health.
While AFT is grateful for the many important changes in the Conservation Title, there remain opportunities to strengthen the draft legislation’s support for farm viability. For instance, there is an opportunity to codify the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program – which has proven critical in strengthening the middle of the food supply chain – as well as to provide additional support for supply chain coordination and business technical assistance by including the recently introduced bipartisan American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act. Additionally, while AFT appreciates the draft bill’s authorization of a local food purchasing program similar to the former Local Food Purchase Assistance program, the draft does not provide mandatory funding for the purchasing program, jeopardizing the program’s ability to meet its substantial demand providing markets for farmers and locally grown food for communities.
The draft would be strengthened with the inclusion of several other AFT priorities. Currently, the draft does not establish an Office of Small Farms, which would help USDA better serve small acreage farm and forest operations. It also does not provide greater support for farmer-to-farmer conservation education, for example by including the bipartisan, bicameral Farmer to Farmer Education Act. Farmer-to-farmer support is key to ensuring that producers can successfully incorporate conservation practices into their operations.
The draft also could do more to address PFAS, an emerging issue for many farmers and ranchers across the nation. AFT recently led the development of federal policy recommendations endorsed by fifteen other agricultural organizations to address PFAS contamination of agricultural land and support impacted farmers. Though AFT welcomes the draft making PFAS a high priority research initiative and creating the new Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Assistance Program to help rural communities access safe water, it does not include a dedicated PFAS relief and support program which would enable impacted farmers to remain viable and stay safely in business. Such a relief program has bipartisan, bicameral support.
Advancing Smart Solar development, which keeps productive land in agriculture, can be another way to support the viability of farms since on-farm energy generation lowers energy costs and solar leases provide steady passive income to farmer-landowners. AFT has long worked with the agriculture committees to identify opportunities in the Farm Bill to advance Smart Solar through programs like the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). AFT applauds the discussion draft’s focus on improvements to REAP, rather than restrictions, so that this farm viability program can function better for producers. Some opportunities remain to support smarter solar development through USDA programs, like incentivizing projects on less productive land, ensuring soil productivity is maintained when solar is sited on productive farmland, and advancing agrivoltaic projects that integrate farming into solar arrays.
Finally, at a time when record land prices are placing the dream of farmland ownership out of reach for so many new farmers, AFT applauds the proposed establishment of a pre-approval pilot program for farm ownership loans. However, the bill does not reauthorize the bipartisan, bicameral-supported Commission on Farm Transitions which would identify barriers to transition facing both retiring and aspiring producers and provide policymakers with concrete recommendations to address this national concern.
As the process moves forward within the Senate, additional bipartisan discussion is needed to achieve a Farm Bill that meets the needs of all our nation’s farmers and ranchers. To ensure its passage, we encourage members of the Senate Agriculture Committee to find compromises on issues that need resolution, including recent changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The passage of a Farm Bill remains both urgent and essential to provide the certainty farmers need to run viable operations, and to ensure that USDA programs work well for the people they are intended to serve. AFT thanks Chairman Boozman, the Committee, and staff for all their hard work in developing this draft, and for their continued partnership with stakeholders to pass a Farm Bill that meets the needs of farmers, ranchers, and rural communities across the nation.
