Agriculture and Forestry

Congressional Hearings Leading up to the 2023 Farm Bill: Part 3

By Anna McGinn

May 2, 2023

This article is one part of a series of articles tracking Congressional hearings leading up to the 2023 Farm Bill. To view all of the hearing tracking articles, click here.

To see all of EESI's resources on the 2023 Farm Bill, click here.

 

Farm Bill 2023: Trade and Horticulture

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on February 1, 2023, to discuss opportunities to bolster trade and horticulture in the next Farm Bill. There were no significant climate, environmental, or energy policy highlights from this hearing.

 

Farm Bill 2023: Commodity Programs, Crop Insurance, and Credit

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on February 9, 2023, to discuss U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs providing direct support to farmers and ranchers. The key witness for this hearing, Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary for the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) at USDA, oversees the Farm Service Agency (FSA), the Risk Management Agency (RMA), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the FPAC Business Center (FPAC BC).

To learn more about organic agriculture, watch EESI’s briefing Grow Organic: The Climate, Health, and Economic Case for Expanding Organic Agriculture.”

Policy highlights from this hearing:

  • FPAC is one of the first places producers turn to when they need assistance, including support to recover from natural disasters. The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides help for farmers when noninsured crops are impacted by natural disasters, and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) has expanded eligibility for disaster assistance.
  • The RMA Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index (HIP-WI) program makes payments to farmers hit by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, East Coast, and Hawaii. The payments are designed to go out promptly, and have totaled about $450 million since 2020.
  • RMA has made changes to its cover crop guidelines, including adding cover crops as a good farming practice. These good farming practices establish important guidelines under the federal crop insurance program. According to Robert Bonnie, these changes encourage producers to increase their use of voluntary conservation practices.
  • RMA has also developed additional support for organic farmers through the Transitional and Organic Grower Assistance (TOGA) program.
  • USDA has announced over $3.1 billion in projects supported through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, which is expected to reach more than 60,000 farms. The program is designed to support cover crops, better management of fertilizers, pesticides, and manure, no-till farming, and other climate-smart practices.

 

Farm Bill 2023: Nutrition Programs

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on February 16, 2023, to review USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services programs. The most prominent program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), supplements the food budgets of low-income workers, parents, and seniors so they can afford healthy food.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

  • The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS’s) Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program funds food purchases from local and underserved farmers for food banks, pantries, and other programs. Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Stacy Dean, explained that promoting purchases of products from local farmers and growers reduces transportation costs and food waste; supports the local economy; and allows seasonal fruits and vegetables to be harvested at their peak. As of the start of 2023, AMS has provided about $375 million to 48 states, four territories, and 24 Tribes.
  • The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) provides support to connect SNAP participants to farmers markets and shares ideas and tools with farmers markets to make them more accessible to SNAP participants.

 

Uncertainty, Inflation, Regulations: Challenges for American Agriculture

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on February 28, 2023, to discuss the complex set of challenges facing agricultural producers, especially the increasing cost of fuel and fertilizer.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

  • Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, highlighted climate change as a significant source of uncertainty for farmers because of the shifting weather patterns and more frequent extreme weather events. According to Larew, opportunities to address this challenge include the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, conservation programs, and building renewable energy resources.
  • Zippy Duvall, president of American Farm Bureau Federation, said that conservation programs are underfunded, but that they are also challenging to apply to. Farmers need technical support to implement conservation practices.
  • Multiple witnesses discussed the linkage between energy policy and fertilizer production because natural gas is used to make many fertilizers.
  • Research at land-grant colleges and universities helps advance agricultural practices, including by developing sustainable agriculture practices that save farmers money.
  • The hearing was wide reaching in scope, with commentary on the Waters of the United States and other regulatory policy, ethanol and biofuels, supply chains, and geopolitics.

 

Farm Bill 2023: Conservation and Forestry Programs

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on March 1, 2023, to discuss the many conservation and forestry programs authorized by the Farm Bill, their current enrollment, and the many benefits they provide to producers, ecosystems, and communities. 

To learn more about conservation in the Farm Bill, watch EESI’s briefing Conservation Practices from Farms to Forests and Wetlands. To learn more about forestry in the Farm Bill, watch EESI’s briefing The Future of Forestry in the Farm Bill.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

 

A Review of Title VIII: Forestry Stakeholder Perspectives

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on March 8, 2023, to discuss how forests are addressed in the Farm Bill.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

To learn more about wildfires and forest management, watch EESI’s briefing Living with Climate Change: Wildfires or read EESI’s article, “Q&A: Learning from the Past to Chart the Future of Fire in Western Forests.”
  • Witnesses described forest management as a combination of different practices, including forest thinning, harvesting, road maintenance, invasive species removal, and reforestation.
  • The Good Neighbor Authority allows state and local entities to support forest management on federal lands. However, updates to the program are needed, including the opportunity to work at a landscape scale across jurisdictional boundaries.
  • The U.S. Forest Service's Landscape Scale Restoration program supports work in small, rural communities. There could be an opportunity to expand the program to support larger communities that also face issues like wildfires and invasive species.
  • The Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources (RNGR) information hub and the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) are important programs supporting forestry work.
  • Wildfires, and their increasing severity, are of significant concern. Attention is needed at all three phases of fire: forest management and fire mitigation, firefighting, and post-fire recovery.
    To learn more about workforce in the forestry sector, watch EESI’s briefing Growing Green Industry and Innovation: Mass Timber.
  • Regulations minimize road building on public lands. This presents challenges for timber-harvesting stakeholders and for efficiently fighting wildfires.
  • The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act provide funding that has allowed the Forest Service to hire more staff and to take a more program-level rather than project-by-project approach to its work.
  • There are significant workforce challenges in the forestry sector. Mills are closing because of lack of staffing and it is challenging to retain talent in rural areas.

 

Rising Risks: Managing Volatility in Global Commodity Derivatives Markets

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on March 9, 2023, to discuss the Farm Bill in the context of global uncertainties and crises, including COVID-19, war in Ukraine, inflation, trade tension, and extreme weather events.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

 

A Review of Title VII: USDA Implementation of Research Programs

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on March 23, 2023, to discuss research programs supported by the Farm Bill.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

To learn more about USDA Climate Hubs, read EESI’s article, “California Climate Hub Provides Essential Information to Farmers Threatened by Climate Change.”
  • Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics at USDA, described the wide range of research efforts supported by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Economic Research Service (ERS), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). Areas of study include producing sustainable biomass, using agricultural waste to generate energy, creating a more circular economy, and adapting to climate change.
  • USDA Climate Hubs are located around the United States and are designed to bring research to producers to help them make climate-informed decisions.
  • Jacobs-Young highlighted workforce needs in the agriculture sector and discussed the importance of building this workforce in the context of a sector that is evolving to be climate-smart and more resilient to climate impacts.
  • ERS and NASS are studying water use and agriculture as described in the report, Irrigation Organizations: Water Storage and Delivery Infrastructure.

 

Forestry in the Farm Bill: The Importance of America's Forests

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on March 30, 2023, to discuss managing forest resources across the United States.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

To learn more about wildfires and forest management, watch EESI’s briefing Living with Climate Change: Wildfires or read EESI’s article, “Q&A: Learning from the Past to Chart the Future of Fire in Western Forests.”
  • Each witness discussed wildfires over the course of the hearing. Tony Cheng, director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute and a professor at Colorado State University, explained that the severity of wildfires makes it more challenging for the landscape to recover and more support is needed for post-fire restoration. The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) and the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership provide support for wildfire prevention and have the potential to be broadened to support post-fire forest recovery.
  • Fire is necessary for the health of some forest types. Prescribed fires introduce fire back to landscapes in a low-heat, controlled way. Prescribed burns often require partnerships between federal agencies, Tribal communities, nongovernmental organizations, and state and local entities. There is an opportunity to build out a full-time, year-round, trained workforce to conduct prescribed burns. As one example, Sally Rollins Palmer, external affairs advisor for the Central Appalachians region for The Nature Conservancy, discussed its inclusive fire workforce program.
  • The National Forest System Reforestation Strategy: Growing and Nurturing Resilient Forests sets out six goals for reforestation, including a goal on workforce.
  • The Forest Inventory and Analysis national program (FIA) collects and provides data on forests across the country. There are opportunities to bolster FIA’s databases, especially to standardize data and provide information on tree and soil carbon.
    To learn more about mass timber and workforce in the forestry sector, watch EESI’s briefing Growing Green Industry and Innovation: Mass Timber.
  • Mass timber, a strong building material made of wood, is a way to store carbon in buildings.
  • The Landscape Scale Restoration Program (LSR) currently supports rural areas, but could be expanded to support landscape-scale work at the urban-wildland interface.
  • The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) promotes biodiversity by providing opportunities to protect private land through tools like conservation easements.
  • The Nature Conservancy received support from the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities to provide incentives to farmers and ranchers to plant trees and to create financial tools and business models to drive private investment in agroforestry.

 

SNAP and Other Nutrition Assistance in the Farm Bill

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on April 19, 2023, to discuss the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to witness Ty Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “research shows that SNAP is one of our most effective tools in reducing hunger and food insecurity. Much of SNAP’s success is due to its structure: it is designed so that everyone who is eligible can get benefits; it expands automatically to meet needs during tough times; and it focuses its benefits to the households with the least resources available to purchase groceries, assisting families with low incomes to obtain adequate nutrition, regardless of where they live.” There were no direct environmental, energy, or climate issues specifically mentioned during this hearing.

 

Conservation in the Farm Bill: Making Conservation Programs Work for Farmers and Ranchers

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on April 20, 2023, to discuss conservation programs.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

To learn more about agricultural conservation practices and USDA’s conservation programs, read EESI’s article series, which covers cover crops, agroforestry, no-till farming, rotational grazing, biochar, and compost.
  • Conservation programs have the potential to deliver multiple benefits for communities, agricultural producers, watersheds, and habitats. Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) highlighted that a healthy environment is necessary for a robust agricultural economy.
  • A key message from each witness was that the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) are valuable programs, but they are not adequately serving producers because of the amount of required paperwork (some of which cannot be submitted online) and long delays—up to two years—in processing applications. The programs are understaffed, especially in the regional offices, and support disproportionately goes to large farms. In addition, many farmers do not know that these programs exist, and most farmers who learn about the programs do so from other farmers instead of from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which administers the programs.
  • In contrast, the Conservation Innovation Grants program (CIG) is administered in a more streamlined way and is seen as both flexible and accountable. It could be an example for how to update the EQIP and RCPP contracting processes.
  • The drought in the West is a significant challenge for producers. Conservation practices can help producers make the best use of available water resources.
  • Finding ways to support early adopters of conservation practices through NRCS programs will help advance innovative practices. Right now, early adopters often cannot get support for practices they adopted before USDA had programs to support them. For example, Ray Flickner, owner and operator of Flickner Farms and Flickner Innovation Farm, explained that farms already practicing no-till agriculture cannot get funding for no-till agriculture. In order to get this funding, they would need to go back to tilling and then apply for support to transition to the no-till practice.

Last updated: July 25, 2023

By: Anna McGinn

Contributions from Tom Beach, Molly Brind’Amour, Tyler Burkhardt, Jonathan Herz, Isabella Millet, and Jeff Overton

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