Farm Bill & USDA

Farm Bill 2014 Platforms

Negotiations for the 2014 Farm Bill represented a broad spectrum of policy perspectives and priorities. Given the tight budget environment, decisions over which program areas to cut were contentious. After intense debate, a Farm Bill was signed into law on February 7, 2014 and it will play a key role in determining what the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will look like over the next five years.

Here we have assembled several examples of policy proposals developed by key industry, advocacy, and political organizations that were involved in the discussions.

Advocates for Food Security and Nutrition

With 1 out of 6 Americans facing food insecurity and 2 out of 3 adults overweight, these organizations work to relieve hunger and to improve the diets of all Americans. Some are anti-hunger organizations that work directly in communities to provide meals to those in greatest need; others are advocacy groups that aim to increase access to fresh, affordable foods in food deserts; and other organizations are public health and nutrition associations that seek to promote healthy eating.

House hearings on nutrition in the 2014 Farm Bill were dominated by discussions of waste and fraud in the SNAP program. These organizations hoped to shift the focus toward the important health benefits and economic stimulus provided by SNAP. Many of these organizations are working to change the American food system to one that values health, equity and sustainability. As a result, their farm bill platforms recommended decreasing funding for commodity programs and increasing funding for nutrition, conservation, and small business agricultural entities.

National Farm Organizations and Trade Associations

These organizations represent the farms, farmers, farm industries and trade associations of America. Due to trends in U.S. farming in recent decades, many of these groups represent industrial-sized farms with strong lobbying capacities. Others speak for the interests of small family farms.

These organizations focus largely on continued support for farm safety net programs, which can be divided into commodity, risk management, and disaster assistance programs. The commodity programs include government subsidies for cash crops (such as soybeans, corn, cotton, and rice). Risk management programs deal with broader market declines in yield or revenue, and are meant to cushion farmers from the impact of a volatile agricultural market. Disaster assistance programs provide support to farmers in the case of weather-related crop losses.

Many lawmakers were keen to target commodity programs in the 2014 Farm Bill, as there had been widespread protest of the “direct payments” subsidies that farmers receive. These payments occurred regardless of market demand for crops (as opposed to counter-cyclical payments, which are paid out to farmers only if market demand has dropped). In fact, the 2014 Farm Bill made significant changes to the way the farm safety net functions. Direct payment subsidies are now receiving less funding, replaced by crop insurance programs that pay out only when prices or revenues drop.

Regional and Local Farm Organizations

Farm policies can vary widely across regions. These organizations represent farmers and farms across the United States, with policy platforms that reflect each organization’s regional interest. As with the national farm organizations, these groups are looking for government support for their crops—but with more local specificity.

Like national farm organizations, these groups are supporters of farm safety net programs. But you also might find among their platforms more interest in support for small, family farms and non-industrial agriculture. They are likely to call for a more equitable distribution of government subsidies.

Advocates for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Protection

These organizations work towards a more environmentally sustainable agricultural system in the United States. They support areas such as organic agriculture, locally grown foods, farmers’ markets, reduced pesticide and antibiotic use and diversified crop growth.

Conservation policies have gained increased attention in Farm Bills over the past decade. However, they still represent only a small portion of government agricultural funding and were a target of budget cuts in the 2014 Farm Bill, sustaining a $6.1 billion reduction in funding. The organizations listed below promoted policy positions relating to preserving farmland, supporting local farms and organic agriculture, and decreasing subsidies for industrial cash crop producers.

 

Sources:

“2014 Farm Bill Drill Down: The Bill by the Numbers.” NSAC’s Blog. National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, 4 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

http://farmpolicy.com/2011/06/17/votes-on-ag-spending-and-biofuels-presages-2012-farm-bill-debate/

http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/nutrition-programs-hearing/

http://www.wildlifemanagementinstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=533:house-votes-to-slash-spending-on-ag-conservation-programs&catid=34:ONB%20Articles&Itemid=54