Notes below are from our friend at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC),   Ariana Taylor-Stanley | Northeast Regional Organizer, Northeast Farm Bill Organizing Project – In partnership with American Farmland Trust.

Here is NSAC’s press release on the draft bill as a whole.
Here is a statement from American Farmland Trust on the draft bill.

Here are some quick takes from NSAC (with input from AFT) on how our priorities fared in the draft, along with links to blog posts taking a deeper look. We’ll have more posts coming out throughout the weekend on our blog.

Local and Regional Food Systems & Rural Development

Read more here

Glad to see:

• Increase in mandatory funding for Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Program: provides $275 million over 5 years, establishes permanent baseline.

Mixed bag:

• Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program reauthorized but proposed expansion to include low-income veterans and commensurate increase in funding not included. Flat funding $20.6m/yr mandatory.
• Food Safety Outreach Program reauthorized but not provided any mandatory funding; proposed policy changes to the program were not included that would enhance community-based organizations’ ability to access the program.
• Gives USDA authority to conduct pilots to test mobile technology for SNAP benefits which could provide new methods for accepting SNAP at farmers markets, CSAs etc.

Of concern:

• Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program reauthorized but provided no mandatory funding (2014 Farm Bill provided $30m/yr mandatory).
• Value-added Producer Grants Program reauthorized but provided no mandatory funding (2014 Farm Bill provided $63 million in a mandatory lump sum to be spent over 5 years).
• National Organic Certification Cost Share Program eliminated: no reauthorization, no mandatory or discretionary funding.
• Rural Energy for America Program reauthorized but permanent baseline funding of $50m/yr eliminated.
• Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program reauthorized but provided no mandatory funding (2014 Farm Bill provided $3m/yr mandatory).

Not included:

• Proposed Food Safety Cost Share Program not included.
• No-cost provision on geographic preference to support farm-to-school initiatives not included.
• Proposed Harvesting Health Pilot (produce prescriptions) not included.

Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers

Read more here

Glad to see:

• Continues existing mandatory funding for Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) of $20m/yr, includes new priorities on land access, succession planning, food safety; waiver to matching funds requirement
• New farmland data initiative included
• Expands crop insurance benefits for beginning farmers enrolling in Whole Farm Revenue Protection insurance
• Continued funding for the Conservation Reserve Program Transition Incentives Program (CRP-TIP)
• Establishes the Commission on Farm Transitions to study issues around access to land, credit, and risk management tools, as well as to explore potential incentives to facilitate farm transfers

Mixed bag:

• Continued funding for the Outreach and Assistance for Local Farmers and Ranchers (2501) Program, but no increase. Includes a new priority/carve-out for youth education projects

Of concern:

• No permanent baseline funding for BFRDP, 2501 or CRP-TIP
• No mandatory funding for Individual Development Accounts, Value-Added Produce Grant Program, Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program
• Raises loan limits on guaranteed loans to $1.75 million but no changes to direct loans

Conservation – Including Working Lands Conservation Programs

Read more here

Glad to see:

• Increased funding for Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)
• Elimination of livestock carve-out within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
• Continuation of CRP-TIP

Of concern:

• Repeals Regional Equity provision
• Allows 100% forested land to be eligible for ACEP-Agricultural Land Easements
• Elimination of the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). (“Stewardship Contracts” added to EQIP to replace CSP do not retain the core features of CSP)
• Funding for the two major working lands programs, EQIP and CSP, would be cut by nearly $5 billion over 10 years
• Conservation Reserve Program acreage increase comes at the expense of payment rates and incentive payments within the continuous CRP enrollment, which would have negative implications for new conservation buffers and partial field enrollments

Research

Read more here

Glad to see:

• Organic Agriculture Research & Extension Initiative (OREI) – $10m increase in mandatory funding (up to $30m/yr), includes soil health priority

Of concern:

• Reauthorization of SARE, AFRI, OREI, SCRI, BFRDP but funding increase only for OREI

Not included:

• No components of H.R. 5208 (Seeds for the Future Act) included

Crop Insurance and Commodities

Read more here

Glad to see:

• Extension of beginning farmer crop insurance discounts to 10 years for Whole Farm Revenue Protection policy.

Of concern:

• Elimination of Risk Management Education Partnership program

Not included:

• No significant provisions to expand access to crop insurance for diversified, organic, and direct-to-market producers through improvements to Whole Farm Revenue Protection, NAP, or outreach and training programs.