According to the Farm Bill Legal Enterprise, "Because bedrock federal environmental laws like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act largely exempt agricultural activities, the conservation compliance provisions are critically important in addressing environmental harms resulting from agricultural production....  The large number of acres enrolled in commodity support and crop insurance programs creates great potential for quick and widespread adoption of climate-friendly practices on farms. In 2018, there were 94.6 million acres enrolled in [commodity payment programs] and 313 million acres enrolled in federal crop insurance.Furthermore, these [commodity payment] programs supplement producers’ income at rates that dwarf payments offered through the voluntary conservation programs [like the Conservation Stewardship and Environmental Quality Incentives programs]); voluntary programs are insufficient to meet the urgency of the moment. To increase the country’s resilience to climate change, engage more farms as partners in climate change mitigation, and ensure public dollars are not used to exacerbate environmental degradation, Congress should expand conservation compliance to require adoption of climate-friendly practices on all farms receiving government support."

The Farm Bill is a super important piece of legislation. The estimated expenditure for the next 5 years are $648 billion, which is about $160 billion larger than the Inflation Reduction Act expenditures. The Farm Bill only gets reauthorized every five years and the next reauthorization is in 2023.  Watch for Farm Bill congressional hearings near you. NY, CA and other big ag states are also conducting Farm Bill hearings sponsored by the state agriculture departments. I testified at one and found our state folks very open to communicating messages re climate to their USDA colleagues working on the Farm Bill.

By the way, if any of you want to work with me more on the Farm Bill, my name is Marianne Krasny and my email is mekrasny@gmail.com. I am posting numerous Farm Bill actions on Climate Action Now.

Thanks for supporting strong climate action in the Farm Bill!