Farm Bill 2023

The federal Farm Bill happens just once every 5 years – and while the process began in 2023, the discussions and negotiations have continued into 2024!

Join FARFA as we urge Congress to include provisions in the 2023/2024 Farm Bill to support small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers, improve local and regional food systems, and protect our national food security.

Below is a list of bills and proposals that FARFA is working to include in the Farm Bill. More details on the bills are available here.  These topics include all of our core priorities: addressing corporate consolidation and abuses by big business, reforming regulations to be scale-appropriate, and supporting local food systems.

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Meat Processing Reforms

The lack of affordable, accessible slaughterhouses for small- and mid-scale farmers and ranchers is one of the biggest challenges facing us as we work to support local food systems.  And since one of the fundamental pillars of regenerative agriculture is in livestock grazing, it ultimately impacts all types of sustainable food production.

1. The Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act,R. 2814/S.907, would remove the federal ban on the intrastate sale of meat from custom processors. This would allow farmers to use these small, licensed processors, which are often far closer and more affordable than those which have an inspector on site. Read our fact sheet here
2. The Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2023,H.R.945/S.354,requires USDA to provide certain resources to help small and very small processors navigate the regulations. It also creates a grant program to help small processors, as well as funding training programs to address labor shortages.
3. FARFA proposal to protect State meat inspection programs from USDA abuses of discretion: We are proposing a bill to stop the USDA from revoking approval of state meat inspection programs based on USDA officials’ whims or informal policy opinions. Read our fact sheet here

Addressing Corporate Consolidation and Abuses

The free market doesn't work when there are a small handful of buyers and sellers who can control the system.Plus, the huge corporations use their political power to write regulations to benefit them and hurt small farms and ranches.  We need to address consolidation and the policies that help drive it.

4. Stop Mandatory Electronic Animal ID: For decades, multinational meatpacking corporations and high-tech companies have pushed mandatory electronic identification for livestock.  They claim it’s an animal health and food safety measure, but that’s not true. It’s really about promoting international trade, thus maximizing the meatpacking companies’ profits, while the high-tech companies will make millions selling tags, readers, and all the related infrastructure … all at the expense of farmers and ranchers.In the spring, USDA proposed mandatory electronic ID for cattle, and appears intent to finalizing the rule in early 2024. We need Congress to step in and stop it. Read our fact sheet here
5. The Fairness for Small-Scale Farmers and Ranchers Act, H.R. 4978,improves anti-trust enforcement and creates a process for undoing past Agribusiness mergers where appropriate. It restores mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for meat, so consumers know where their meat comes from. It funds programs to help new farmers get into agriculture.  And it creates a pilot program to address one of the perpetual problems with USDA’s meat inspection program, namely the shortage of inspectors, which has been a barrier for those facilities that want to obtain USDA-inspected status.
6. The Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF)Act, R.1227/ S.557, would address the long-standing abuses under the so-called Checkoff Programs. America’s farmers and ranchers are legally required to pay into Checkoff Programs, supposedly to promote their products – but much of that money goes into the pockets of nonprofits that represent the interests of the large corporations and that frequently lobby against the interests of the farmers. The OFF Act would bring much-needed transparency and accountability to these programs.

Supporting Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative farmers and ranchers provide numerous benefits to our society and environment; government programs should help people learn these methods and support them in their implementation.

7. The Naturally Offsetting Emissions by Managing and Implementing Tillage Strategies (NO EMITS) Act (soon to be re-introduced) would create incentives for producers to adopt soil health cropping systems, so as to both increase farm productivity and reduce net carbon emissions. The bill would establish federal programs and funding directed specifically to healthy soils methods and establish a program to assist states in their own programs.
8. The Training for Regenerative Agriculture in NRCS Programs Act (soon to be introduced) is intended to address the government’s under-investment in training in regenerative agriculture and biologically based soil health management systems. NRCS staff and their technical service providers would be provided with online and in-person educationwith the latest information and tools to help producers rebuild degraded lands, reduce reliance on inputs, and increase profitability and resilience to extreme weather like floods and droughts.

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