1. The Title II Conservation section of the 2018 Farm Bill provides the legislation’s highest level of federal funding for regenerative agricultural practices, helping to support innovative farmers who embrace conservation stewardship through efforts such as improved grazing systems, adopting nutrient management plans, and using diverse cropping rotation.
2. To improve soil health, farm resilience to the impacts of climate change, and productivity in the face of changing weather patterns. Farm Bill subsidy programs should focus financial incentives on soil conservation and diversified farming practices, not on the planting of chemical-dependent monocultures.
3. U.S. farms are losing an average of more than 5.8 tons of topsoil per acre per year and are dealing with historic losses generated by flooding and drought. Beyond environmental changes, they are seeing farm debt rise by 4% per year. Reversing these trends by fully funding NRCS programs that provide farmers with financing, education, and technical assistance is foundational to the future of American agriculture.
4. Currently, less than two percent of public funding for agriculture research is allocated for regenerative and organic farming practices, despite mounting evidence that agroecology can outperform conventional industrial agriculture. Agricultural research at land grant universities has become increasingly privatized, funded to a large extent by powerful agrochemical interests, which prioritize patented inputs. The Research Title of the Farm Bill offers an opportunity to increase investment in organic and regenerative research, enhancing the benefits to farmers, consumers, and the environment.
5. Food systems infrastructure, which at present is largely geared to meet the needs of commodity crops and industrial agriculture, includes both physical and market-type facilities. For instance, USDA-inspected processing and storage facilities and slaughterhouses can process thousands of animals at a time and they give priority to large producers. This makes it difficult for smaller farmers to book appointments, creating delays of 6 - 12 months or more and requiring travel at great distances. The number of facilities declined from 10,000 in 1967 to 850 in 2021, reducing services and availability for small operators.
6. Agroforestry practices play an important role in creating and sustaining healthy ecosystems which are important to mitigating severe weather events and sequestering water and carbon. Protecting and restoring local biodiversity supports the interdependent relationships that sustain the health of pollinators and other organisms which enhance soil health and resilience. Research has found that biodiversity and climate stability are closely intertwined, and that addressing them together offers numerous synergies and benefits. The Farm Bill should ensure the protection of important habitats to increase local biodiversity and sequester more carbon. Limiting land conversion and pollution will help keep temperatures below 2°C and preserve the adaptive capacity of ecosystems.
2. To improve soil health, farm resilience to the impacts of climate change, and productivity in the face of changing weather patterns. Farm Bill subsidy programs should focus financial incentives on soil conservation and diversified farming practices, not on the planting of chemical-dependent monocultures.
3. U.S. farms are losing an average of more than 5.8 tons of topsoil per acre per year and are dealing with historic losses generated by flooding and drought. Beyond environmental changes, they are seeing farm debt rise by 4% per year. Reversing these trends by fully funding NRCS programs that provide farmers with financing, education, and technical assistance is foundational to the future of American agriculture.
4. Currently, less than two percent of public funding for agriculture research is allocated for regenerative and organic farming practices, despite mounting evidence that agroecology can outperform conventional industrial agriculture. Agricultural research at land grant universities has become increasingly privatized, funded to a large extent by powerful agrochemical interests, which prioritize patented inputs. The Research Title of the Farm Bill offers an opportunity to increase investment in organic and regenerative research, enhancing the benefits to farmers, consumers, and the environment.
5. Food systems infrastructure, which at present is largely geared to meet the needs of commodity crops and industrial agriculture, includes both physical and market-type facilities. For instance, USDA-inspected processing and storage facilities and slaughterhouses can process thousands of animals at a time and they give priority to large producers. This makes it difficult for smaller farmers to book appointments, creating delays of 6 - 12 months or more and requiring travel at great distances. The number of facilities declined from 10,000 in 1967 to 850 in 2021, reducing services and availability for small operators.
6. Agroforestry practices play an important role in creating and sustaining healthy ecosystems which are important to mitigating severe weather events and sequestering water and carbon. Protecting and restoring local biodiversity supports the interdependent relationships that sustain the health of pollinators and other organisms which enhance soil health and resilience. Research has found that biodiversity and climate stability are closely intertwined, and that addressing them together offers numerous synergies and benefits. The Farm Bill should ensure the protection of important habitats to increase local biodiversity and sequester more carbon. Limiting land conversion and pollution will help keep temperatures below 2°C and preserve the adaptive capacity of ecosystems.