A beautiful autumn is upon us – complete with apples, cranberries, pumpkins, corn, squash and delicious family recipes. Yet none of this will be enjoyed if we don’t fund protection for our farmers, our crops, our animals, our air, our waters and soils. Sadly, the deadline for the Farm Bill passed with no replacement Farm Bill in sight. As legislators in Washington battled over the government shutdown connected to annual spending legislation, the five-year Farm Bill – a separate piece of legislation – also expired on September 30th.
The Farm Bill funnels nearly $1 trillion dollars into programs that impact the entire farm and food system and the food that we are able to put on the table for our families and children. Also at stake are funds for conservation and pollution prevention practices to protect our farmlands and waterways, vital insurance programs to help farmers and ranchers recover from increasing climate disasters, food security and hunger relief programs for low-income households, healthy food access and more.
Legislators need to hear your voices on the Farm Bill. So on Sept. 18 & 19, we brought members of our Farmer Advisory Council (FAC) to Washington DC to share their experiences as farmers with seven legislators and/or their staff in their offices on the Hill, including Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), Rep. GT Thompson (Ag Committee Chair, PA), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY).
The FAC members’ priority was to ask legislators to defend and extend the $20 billion included in the Inflation Reduction Act for climate smart conservation programs. In addition, they asked for support of the Agriculture Resilience Act, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act, the Local Farms and Food Act, the Converting Our Waste Sustainably Act, the Strengthening Local Processing Act, the EQIP Improvement Act, the Justice for Black Farmers Act, the Farmer to Farmer Education Act, and the Relief for Farmers Hit with PFAS Act. More info on bills can be found here and here.
For the most part, FAC members, who had never met with congressional representatives before, were encouraged by how attentive and knowledgeable the legislators and their staff were. They clearly respected our FAC members – it is probably quite unusual for them to meet with actual farmers.
While the government didn’t shut down this weekend, a shutdown is still looming on the horizon. It is imperative that we continue to organize in order to create an equitable, just, sustainable, healthy and balanced farm and food system for all. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry continues to work on the Farm Bill. We urge you to write to your Senators and ask them to value and support farmer-led water and climate-friendly policies and bills. Our future depends on it.
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