A 2024 Farm Bill is a Matter of If, Not When
Interparty and intraparty divisions slow progress on measure that's already a year late
Will a New Farm Bill Get Enacted This Year?
Under more normal congressional circumstances, deliberations to rewrite the federal Farm Bill would be well under way. There would already be clear calls to action, for individuals and organizations who want a better food system, to contact their House members and senators to support our agenda.
The five-year Farm Bill, which sets law for the nation’s farm, food, and food assistance programs, was supposed to be revised and reauthorized in 2023, but was extended until September 30 of this year when Congress did not act.
These are no ordinary times, as underscored by Mike Lavender, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, during a “Dishing on the Farm Bill” webinar on Monday (April 22) presented by Illinois Stewardship Alliance.
Democrats hold a very narrow majority in the Senate; Republicans hold a minuscule majority in the House, and their ranks are involved in an ideologically driven power struggle. With major divisive national issues bogged down, even relatively routine legislation such as the Farm Bill is left in limbo as well.
The Republican majority in the House Agriculture Committee is just now — almost in May — preparing to release its draft Farm Bill proposal. But given the party’s narrow hold on the House, they likely will need to negotiate changes with Democrats, or organize a 100 percent party line vote, for that draft bill to pass in the full House.
Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled Senate is almost certain to consider its own bill with some very different policy priorities, meaning the two chambers would have to negotiate a compromise version at a time when compromise on Capitol Hill is very hard to find.
“Where we are,” Mike Lavender said, “is a months-long process, if not years-long process, even in a perfect-world situation.”
He continued, “One thing that we've known from the beginning is that there's really only two paths to pass a Farm Bill this year through the House of Representatives. One of those paths includes drafting a Farm Bill that is bipartisan, one that meets the expressed needs of House Republicans and House Democrats, and by virtue of that you have enough votes on the House floor to pass a Farm Bill. The other path is to pass a Farm Bill that is mostly partisan and that secures as many Republican votes as possible and peels off a few Democratic votes... Republican-only support is incredibly, incredibly difficult, because they can only afford to lose one member of their conference if they want to pass anything.
“So we're really beginning to see the beginnings of an impasse here with the next steps for the 2024 Farm Bill.”
Nonetheless, those of us who want the Farm Bill (whenever it is enacted) to reflect our desires for a healthier and more sustainable food system need to be aware of the issues that will shape the legislation when... or if... it reaches a full debate.
Conservation Funding: The Biden administration succeeded in including major funding for conservation programs, including those focused on addressing and reversing climate change, when Congress approved its Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
Mike said that while Republicans have backed off earlier suggestions that these conservation programs would be slashed — the programs have broad support among farmers regardless of their partisan leanings — “they will likely strip away the climate focus of those programs or of that funding.” He said this will likely cross “a red line” for Democratic lawmakers, who overwhelmingly support that climate-focused funding.
Food Assistance Funding: Re-enacting a debate that has been going on for decades, a significant segment of Republican members of Congress favor cutting overall spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or raising work requirements for eligibility. This is highly controversial, and it is not clear yet the degree to which a draft Farm Bill will reflect these sentiments, especially given that we’re well into the midst of an election year for president, all House seats and a third of the Senate. Democratic leaders will likely seek to block any cuts to food assistance programs.
Beyond these hot-button issues are dozens of priorities pursued by the better-for-people-and-the-planet side, ranging from increasing support for organic and regenerative farmers to greater assistance for beginning farmers and ranchers to measures to address the high cost of farmland to fairness to Black farmers and other constituencies that are underrepresented in the nation’s farming population, and beyond.
To get a flavor for the wide range of issues in play, click the button below to access a letter sent in December to leaders of both parties in the Senate and House Agriculture committees by 112 organizations. Their legislative priorities are embedded in support for 34 “marker” bills that are designed not to pass on their own but to be incorporated into the massive Farm Bill.
But Mike said that because of the slow progress on the omnibus bill, the status of those agenda items is just now going to become clear. The House Agriculture Committee’s draft proposal will at least give an indication of where the congressional Republican Party stands on issues of interest to our community.
According to Mike, the likelihood of a Farm Bill passing this year will likely be determined over the next couple of months. As is typical in an election year, the schedule for Congress to move legislation before November is short and very tight. “We would expect that anything that isn't fully wrapped up or really has a lot of momentum by the July 4 holiday is very likely to have to wait until after the election, if not into 2025,” Mike said.
Fasten your seat belts and keep a sharp eye out for developments in D.C. Local Food Forum will provide updates.
Our next Local Food Forum’s “Better” Dialogues webinar takes place in just FOUR days (Monday, April 29) at 7 p.m. central. And what a lineup!
Laura Avery, a true legend in the farmers market world, will be joining our lineup of guest experts for a conversation with “Better” Dialogues co-host Chef Sarah Stegner — who was a founding Board member of Chicago’s Green City Market in 1999 and continues to be active in the market’s activities today.
Laura became manager of the Santa Monica Farmers Market adjacent to Los Angeles in 1982, a year after its founding, and at a time when there were just more than 1,000 farmers markets across the entire country. Over her following 36 years as manager, Laura played the leading role in growing the Santa Monica market from 23 farmers and a relative handful of shoppers to roughly 130 farmers and throngs of attendees.
Her work also influenced the more than seven-fold rise in the number of U.S. farmers markets, including Chicago’s Green City Market when it was started 25 years ago by Abby Mandel, a chef and Good Food activist.
Both Laura and Sarah have both played major roles in helping stimulate the growth of local food cultures both in Chicago and across the nation. This will surely be a memorable conversation.
After their chat, Sarah and I will briefly discuss what we’ve seen in the season’s earliest markets and what to expect in May, as openings surge and the region’s outdoor growing season hits stride. We then will engage with the rest of our amazing guests:
Janelle St. John, executive director of Chicago’s Growing Home Inc. non-profit
Alex Finn of Michigan’s Finn’s Ranch
Kyle Jacobson of Illinois’ Jacobson Family Farms
Matthew Ruffi, who heads up the Link Up Illinois program — run by the Experimental Station non-profit — that provides financial support for markets’ “Link Match” programs, and also organizes Chicago’s Uptown Farmers Market (in his role as president of the Chicago Market co-op grocery project)
Don’t miss out on this lively and informative webinar.
May 8: New Showing of Movie Assailing Factory Farming
Local Food Forum promoted the April 21 showing of The Smell of Money, a powerful documentary exposé about factory farming and its terrible impacts on neighboring communities. I will have a write-up about the event, presented by Crate Free USA and Food Animal Concerns Trust, coming up soon.
If you missed the film or want to see it again, there is another showing on Wednesday, May 8 at DePaul University in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood (McGowan South Room 105, 1110 West Belden Ave.). The event, which begins at 5 p.m. with the film showing, will include a panel featuring Jamie Berger, the film’s producer and writer, and Krissy Kasserman, Factory Farm Organizing Director at Food and Water Watch.
The evening is produced by Just DePaul, Food and Water Watch, International Institute for Animal Law, and DePaul University’s Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-Based Service Learning and Community Service Studies, its College of Law Center for Animal Law, and its College of Science and Health Department of Environmental Science and Studies.
To purchase tickets, use the QR code in the graphic above or click the button below.
Regional Outdoor Farmers Market Schedule
There are still only three farmers market open for the season in our Chicago region. But we’re only days away from the kickoff of the first big surge in May, followed by the even bigger bounty in June.
Here’s the schedule for this weekend… and to whet your appetite for the new season openings, the schedule for markets through Sunday, May 5.