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Connecting Federal Nutrition Dollars to Local Farmers
The farm bill is a massive piece of legislation that encompasses policies covering agriculture, conservation, trade, rural development, nutrition, and more. The current legislative package differs from the first farm bill, the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, which was passed almost 100 years ago. At that time, farmers were dealing with repercussions from World War I and the Great Depression’s impact on crop prices. As such, the inaugural farm bill included farmer support and commodity price controls that we continue to see in the legislation.
Fast forward to the 1960s, when President Lyndon B. Johnson spearheaded ambitious policy initiatives, programs, and legislation laid out for his “Great Society” agenda. Issues like inequality, poverty, and hunger took center stage for the Johnson administration. Medicaid and Medicare became law, the Job Corps program was created, and the Food Stamp Act was established—which would create the cornerstone link between agriculture and nutrition programs in the farm bill.
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Following the USDA’s Reorganization (Regularly Updated)
Following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) reorganization plans in the summer of 2025, the agency announced reorganization and restructuring efforts around staff and facilities across some of its mission areas. With a slated completion date at the end of the 2026 calendar year, these efforts and associated staffing reductions have recently accelerated—even in the face of industry concerns and public pushback.
This blog will be regularly updated to track the USDA’s reorganization, relocation, and restructuring actions.
Source: OPM EHRI Status -
The Path to a New Farm Bill (Regularly Updated)
It’s GO time! Our team has been busy at work keeping up to date with the farm bill action in Congress. In this blog, you’ll find all relevant updates, with the oldest news at the bottom and the most recent updates at the top. Stay tuned for more as things are moving.
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Ohio Organic Farmers in DC: NOC and OFA Fly-Ins
Last month, we went to DC with organic groups twice, each with a farmer from the OEFFA community. First, in early March with the Organic Farmers Association (OFA) and next with the National Organic Coalition (NOC) at the end of the month.
In total, we had eight meetings with Ohio congressional offices, seven with other congressional offices, and two meetings with staff at the USDA.
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Preparing for Our Third Annual Soil Health Advocacy Day
We’re excited to make our voices heard about healthy soil! On Tuesday, May 19, we’ll convene for our third annual Soil Health Advocacy Day. This full-day event at the Ohio Capitol will start with advocacy training, move to meetings with state legislators, and end with an optional group debrief and happy hour at Jackie O’s On Fourth.
We’ll be educating our legislators on soil health and advocating for their support of soil health policies. Registration for this has closed. If you have registered and are unable to attend, please let us know ASAP so we can involve another advocate.
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DC Fly-In Debrief: A Q&A with Tim Schacht of Ohio Till Farmstead
We are thankful that Tim Schacht, of Ohio Till Farmstead, joined us in DC for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s annual fly-in this February. The week was spent in community with farmers and advocates from across the country. Together, 150 farmers, ranchers, and food system advocates had about 150 meetings with members of Congress, their staff, and USDA representatives.
We met with Congressman Dave Taylor, staff from the offices of Congresswoman Brown, Congresswoman Kaptur, and Senator Moreno, and also had a group meeting with Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) officials at the USDA, talking about the new Regenerative Pilot Program, technical assistance, and organics being recognized in conservation programs.
We recently had an opportunity to chat with Tim about the trip. Here’s what he had to say:
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Launching Our Ag Policy Tracker
With all that is going on with food and farm policy on the state and federal levels, our policy team is committed to providing our community with up-to-date information that impacts them. That is why we are excited to launch our new ‘Ag Policy Tracker’, where we’ll be monitoring state and federal policy actions, agency directives, and White House orders that shape our food and farm system and affect producers and eaters in the OEFFA community.
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2025 Changes and Successes
2025 has been a year of constant and often unprecedented change. It brought about both challenges and opportunities for the growers and eaters in OEFFA’s community. Many farmers are still reeling from the impacts of this year’s federal funding freeze and the lack of a sorely needed new farm bill. Yet, there is also a sense of careful optimism stemming from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement and its focus on natural food and soil health.
This year has also brought about uncertainty and transition for OEFFA and the work of our Policy Program. Still, there’s much to celebrate as we prepare to close out the year.
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Curbing Consolidation this Holiday Season
We are in the thick of the holiday season, and over two-thirds of those who celebrate with a meal have reported that food prices will impact their plans. Holiday staples like hams, green beans, and cranberry sauce likely cost more this year, yet our farmers only get pennies on the dollar of goods sold.
Year after year, corporate consolidation has weakened our agricultural system and threatened our producers. Anti-competitive markets and increasing corporate control are bipartisan issues, and solutions have emerged from both sides of the aisle.
But curbing these problems and supporting our farmers will require real political will from our legislators and our community to combat some of the most powerful corporations on the planet. Until then, we can all take steps to avoid contributing to consolidation, especially around the holidays.
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Cross Post: Keeping Farmers on the Land
Photo credit: Erin Larson via Unsplash Editor’s Note: This blog post was written by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), of which OEFFA is a member, and first appeared on their site here.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) traces its earliest roots to the farm crisis of the 1980s, when cycles in the global economy and federal agricultural policy combined to push farmers losing their farms into the national spotlight. The 330,000 farm families who lost their farms between 1978 and 1992 were, unfortunately, not the last. The total number of farms has continued to steadily decrease since then, with the loss of mid-sized farms at a particularly concerning rate.
Within the past couple of years, there has been mounting evidence suggesting a tipping point for farmers and ranchers not unlike that of the 1980s. Today, high production costs, unstable markets, and low crop prices driven by uncertain export markets and overproduction have converged to create an economic climate in which farmers’ livelihoods are threatened. Earlier this year, hundreds of farmers – reportedly more than 500 – attended a single meeting to ask for help. Moments of farm crisis – like the one we are in now – stand out from the decades-long drumbeat of farm losses across agriculture.
FARM POLICY MATTERS