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Marker Bills We Oppose
The farm bill expired for the third time on September 30, after little movement earlier last year. While the agriculture community anxiously awaits an updated version better suited to modern farm needs (not those of 2018), marker bills are still regularly being introduced.
As a reminder, marker bills do not get passed on their own. Instead, they’re introduced by members of Congress with the hopes of being included in larger legislative bills—like the farm bill. Think of them as “building blocks” to amass attention and build support for certain policy proposals.
Our team has been tracking OEFFA-endorsed marker bills here. Based on discussions with members of our Consolidation Caucus, we would also like to highlight a few marker bills that we oppose.
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OEFFA Policy Fellow Launches New Guide: ‘Navigating the Agricultural Landscape’
Jennifer Lumpkin lives and grows in Cleveland, Ohio. Drawing from her experiences as a food systems advocate and beginning farmer, she has prepared an all-encompassing guide as our second OEFFA Policy Fellow.
Navigating the Agricultural Landscape provides a firsthand look at the processes involved in communicating with agricultural departments, better understanding farmer support programs, and advocating within various levels of government.
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Unpacking the MAHA Report
In mid-May, the White House released “The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Report.” The report makes proclamations linking food and chemical corporations with our country’s health crises, particularly those impacting children. It sounds the alarm about corporate influence over our food system, the dangers of pesticides, and the increasing concerns brought about by environmental toxins, to name just a few.
Read on to learn what the MAHA Report says about agriculture and what we see as potential implications of its publication.
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The Path to a New Farm Bill (Regularly Updated)
It’s GO time! Our federal policy 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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Call for a Resilient, Equitable, and Sustainable 2024 Farm Bill!
On September 11, our partners at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) delivered a letter to Congressional leaders with support from 1,096 groups across the country—including 43 sign-ons from Ohio alone!
The purpose of this letter was to affirm the need for a farm bill to be passed in 2024, without it coming at the expense of policies that address hunger, public health, farmers, workers, and the environment.
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The Overturning of Chevron: What it Means for Our Work
When the Supreme Court overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984), it did away with the precedent that regulatory agencies have deference regarding statutory interpretation. In other words, Chevron held that courts should defer to federal agencies’ expertise in interpreting ambiguous statues. Not only does this spare the courts from devoting time to ruling on ambiguities, but it also gives the responsibility of interpretation to federal agencies that are much better suited to the task.
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Celebrating Earth Day with Representative Max Miller
Written in collaboration with the Organic Farmers Association.
There are few more impactful ways to celebrate Earth Day than by inviting a Congressperson to see some of Ohio’s organic farms! It was an honor learning from farmers at Woodlyn Acres Farm in Dalton, Ohio, and County Line Family Farm in Wadsworth, Ohio with Representative Max Miller (OH-7).
The Organic Farm Day was planned in partnership with the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) and the Organic Farmers Association (OFA).
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Conservation, not Consolidation (Take Action!)
Over the last few weeks, we have been posting an educational ‘Farm Safety Net Fridays’ series on our Instagram page. This has all been leading up to a week of action titled: Conservation, not Consolidation. You may have seen a blog post from us a few weeks back about the farm safety net. In it, we outlined how some folks on Capitol Hill want to use climate-smart agriculture funding to prop up commodity programs.
Some lawmakers in Congress are being pressured to raise commodity program subsidies by $20 to $50 billion. These include the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, which makes payments to commodity farms relative to a price floor, or a “reference price,” fixed in legislation. Just 0.3 percent of farms are projected to benefit most from an increase in PLC reference prices.
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Protecting Ohio’s Most Valuable Natural Resource
It is impossible to overstate the importance of what is under our feet. Healthy soil is at the root of healthy water, food, economies, and communities. When taken care of, soil has the potential to store carbon and help mitigate the climate crisis. Yet, even with all that relies on healthy soils, this natural resource is increasingly becoming lost or degraded. The value of soil is simply overlooked and those who do recognize the importance of healthy soils are without the support to preserve them.
There is a need to educate the public on the importance of healthy soils while celebrating this natural resource. That’s why OEFFA and the Ohio Soil Health Initiative (OSHI) are planning an Ohio Soil Health Week—a weeklong celebration that will bring together farmers, community members, organizations, state leaders, and legislators to amplify different voices and share how powerful and important Ohio’s soils are.
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Historic Amount of Funding Available for Conservation
Because of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has nearly $5 billion in funding for conservation practices in 2024. Agricultural producers and forest landowners are encouraged to apply now to receive support for participation in voluntary conservation programs and the adoption of climate-smart practices.
Well suited for a wide variety of producers—including organic and urban producers—USDA is now accepting applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).
FARM POLICY MATTERS