About every five years, Congress renews the Farm Bill. This omnibus, multi-year law covers many agriculture and food programs, including commodity support, nutrition assistance, conservation programs, and agricultural research. The organic sector has benefited from this bill, and our Associate Mark Lipson provides an overview of what’s happening with this key legislation.

On Sept 31, 2023 the current Farm Bill will expire. A semblance of Congressional order is proceeding to craft a new one. Committee hearings are underway and non-committee marker bills are emerging. The committee leaderships are all very vocal about expecting consensus, meaning little intention to depart from the status quo.

While there is early motion on the particulars, the overall path of the next farm bill will be determined by larger factors and non-ag actors. The debt ceiling, SNAP wars, FY24 Appropriations and climate emergency conditions are only some of the looming determinants for legislative outcomes. Right now the odds of an extension into 2024 or 2025 seem better than 50-50.

A major lynchpin this time around is the extraordinary funding directed to ag from the recent Inflation Reduction Act. Nearly $3 Billion has been allocated to e.g., “climate-friendly” conservation ag programs but spent over next 4+ years. These funds could remain additive to the Farm Bill’s total funding, but also are at risk of neutralizing regular Farm Bill allocations, for little net gain.

Aside from the likelihood of a Farm Bill extension in some form, the next most certain thing is an inevitable showdown on SNAP nutrition funding/eligibility. This has been the most reliable feature of last four Farm Bills and there’s no sign that things will be easier this time.

If and when the large funding outlines are more defined, the committees and staffs will start another phase of the Farm Bill puzzle process, but the pieces will continue to change shape as the larger political weather roils the whole landscape.

Farm Bill 2023 agendas and objectives for the organic sector are represented by various organizations, more than ever before. (Not to mention companies and commodity groups lobbying on organic provisions.) There is a lot of overlap in the assorted organic-friendly policy platforms, but so far there is no apparent process for a grand alliance of organic stakeholders to come together. Here are the primary organizational statements to date:

• Organic Trade Association – OTA’s biggest priority is updating the National Organic Standards Board-National Organic Program (NOSB-NOP) rule-making process itself under the banner of Continuous Improvement, aiming to force a more reliable regulatory path and fidelity to the NOSB recommendations. Numerous other specifics range across the spectrum of USDA agencies.
• National Organic Coalition & Organic Farmers Association – Both of these organizations have a similar curated set of recommendations with some differing emphasis. Reform of the NOP is also a common thread.
• Organic Farming Research Foundation – OFRF’s long game continues to focus on more and better organic research and extension in various ways. The organic research agenda builds on historic success in the 2018 legislation.
• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition – NSAC is arguably the most influential Farm Bill player aligned with organic interests, and has very strong organic representation in the coalition. Expect NSAC to play a key role on how the climate-carbon-organic-regenerative subplots play out.
• Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor (HEAL) Food Alliance – This is a coalition that the organic rank-and-file should pay closer attention to and support. “Organic and Agroecological Systems” are woven into the entire platform, and HEAL is not shy about it. HEAL puts organic in the context of social justice, racial equity and food sovereignty.

I have worked on seven Farm Bills, including from inside USDA. Each one has had unexpected plot twists and unpredictable outcomes.

MARK LIPSON is a founding leader of U.S. organic agriculture since 1985. Through his various foundational roles (CCOF, OFRF, USDA) he has directed core public policy strategies and implementation for the organic sector. His expertise integrates legislative, regulatory and media aspects of state and federal policy issues. His personal experience as a 40-year partner in Molino Creek Farm (organic fresh produce) provides ground-truth on the power and practicalities of organic farming. As a policy operator at the highest level of USDA (Organic Policy Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture), his portfolio included research funding, local food systems, genetic engineering policy debates, organic data collection, food safety legislative implementation, organic crop insurance programs, as well as the organic label regulatory apparatus management.