Congressional Hearings Leading up to the 2023 Farm Bill: Part 5 | Article | EESI

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.

For the Purpose of Receiving Testimony from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on May 23, 2023, to discuss U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs. Most of this hearing focused on climate and environmental topics. The testimonies of Terry Cosby, chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Zach Ducheneaux, administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provide a comprehensive overview of the status of the conservation programs and ideas to further strengthen this work.

Watch EESI’s Congressional briefing, Conservation Practices from Farms to Forests and Wetlands.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

Cosby and Ducheneaux underscored the key tenets of the conservation programs—that they are producer-driven, voluntary, and support working lands.
NRCS has more than 2,400 centers around the country that provide assistance to producers and landowners. Support from NRCS is in high demand.
USDA conservation programs help producers increase their climate resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which Cosby described as climate-smart conservation.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (P.L. 117-58) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (P.L. 117-169) provide additional funding to some of the NRCS programs, including the Watershed Rehabilitation Program, the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program, and the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. According to Cosby, the IRA “invests nearly $20 billion in NRCS’s oversubscribed conservation programs.” About $300 million of this funding is specifically for measuring greenhouse gas emission reductions associated with and carbon sequestration potential of conservation programs.
Cosby reported that “EQIP [the Environmental Quality Incentives Program] and CSP [the Conservation Stewardship Program] together delivered more than 27 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in estimated emissions reductions in 2020.”
NRCS also invests in programs like the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which has recently supported local projects designed to reduce the impact of drought and improve water and soil quality.
NRCS supports conservation in both rural and urban settings. The Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIPAC) is generating recommendations on how USDA can improve its services to urban producers.
FSA administers the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and has added Climate-Smart Practice incentives to CRP. As described by Ducheneaux, “Climate-Smart CRP Practice incentives involve the establishment of trees and permanent grasses, the development of wildlife habitat, and wetland restoration. The Climate-Smart Practice Incentive is an annual payment based on the benefits of each practice type.”

Innovation, Employment, Integrity, and Health: Opportunities for Modernization in Title IV

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on June 7, 2023, to discuss nutrition programs and the infrastructure, organizations, and people that support and implement these programs. According to Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), “One in four Americans participate in at least one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 15 food and nutrition assistance programs over the course of a typical year.”

Policy highlights from this hearing:

Patrick Stover, director of the Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture at Texas A&M University, discussed his work to create a “national roadmap for responsive agriculture solutions.” Responsive agriculture highlights the connection between agriculture and human health. It also emphasizes the environmental and economic sustainability of the food system.
Eric Hodel, CEO of Midwest Food Bank, discussed the critical role that food banks play in disaster relief. In the case of the Midwest Food Bank, they have sent food boxes to Kentucky and have efforts in place to coordinate food deliveries to Mississippi and Louisiana.

Horticulture Title: How the Farm Bill Works for Specialty Crop Producers

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on June 7, 2023, to discuss the role of specialty crops in feeding the country and how these crops are supported by the Farm Bill. Specialty crops are defined by USDA as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture, and nursery crops,” as compared to commodity crops like corn and soybeans. According to Charles Wingard, the witness who represented the International Fresh Produce Association, specialty crops make up about 44 percent of total income from crops in the United States.

Watch EESI’s Congressional briefing on organic farming, Grow Organic: The Climate, Health, and Economic Case for Expanding Organic Agriculture and read EESI’s article, “Reimagining Public Food Procurement in the 2023 Farm Bill.”

Policy highlights from this hearing:

The Local Farms and Food Act of 2023 (S.1205/H.R.2723) is designed to help more people purchase and eat specialty crops grown by local producers.
According to Nick Carter, testifying on behalf of the Indiana Farm Bureau, schools would benefit from purchasing food directly from local producers.
Conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can help farmers mitigate risks associated with climate change like extreme weather and pests.
USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative is working on climate adaptation and reducing the distance that food is transported.
Organic farming requires federal investment in the organic certification program. Organic farming has multiple economic, health, and environmental benefits for producers and communities.
The Office of Small Farms Establishment Act (S.1809/H.R.3877) would create a USDA office that could provide more support to organic farmers, including helping with administrative burdens associated with applying for federal grants and other support.
Climate change poses a significant challenge for specialty crop producers. As one example, the creation of new crop varieties that are adapted to different climatic conditions requires a long and complex breeding process.

Stakeholder Perspectives on USDA’s Rural Development Programs

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on June 13, 2023, to discuss rural development challenges and opportunities in areas ranging from infrastructure and energy to access to capital and workforce development.

Watch EESI’s Congressional briefing, Unlocking Rural Economies: Farm Bill Investments in Rural America and learn more about EESI’s work with the Rural Energy Savings Program.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

Cornelius Blanding, board member of the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International, highlighted that USDA’s Rural Energy Savings Program needs support and increased flexibility in order to help rural electric cooperatives deliver financing opportunities for households to conduct renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electrification upgrades.
USDA’s biobased products programs, including BioPreferred and the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program, benefit rural communities, according to Jessica Bowman, executive director of the Plant Based Products Council.
USDA’s Circuit Rider Program provides technical assistance to address issues with rural water systems. According to Matthew Homes, CEO of the National Rural Water Association, this program makes water systems more efficient.
Rural communities will benefit most when local people are trained to provide technical assistance within their own communities.
Blanding underscored that USDA has historically discriminated against Black communities. Targeted investments are needed in Black communities, as they are a central part of climate solutions and improving health care in rural areas.
The Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program is helping address supply chain issues.

A Review of Title VII: University Perspectives on Research and Extension Programs

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on June 14, 2023, to discuss investments in and outcomes of agriculture research across the United States. According to Subcommittee Chair Jim Baird (R-Ind.), every dollar invested in agriculture research generates $20 in economic activity.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

Witnesses from land-grant universities, non-land-grant universities, and Hispanic-serving agriculture colleges and universities spoke at the hearing and described research areas ranging from water conservation and soil health to honeybee colony collapse and reducing the spread of plant diseases.
Native-serving institutions, one category of land grant universities, focus on providing place-based research and strive “to strengthen tribal economies and governments and work to sustain and revitalize our lands, waters, environments, and traditional foods,” according to Carrie Billy, president and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. These institutions are usually in rural areas and often take on the role of training USDA staff on topics such as soil health.

Closing the Digital Divide in Rural America

The House Agriculture Committee held this hearing on June 21, 2023, to discuss access to broadband across the United States.

Read EESI’s issue brief, Closing the Digital Divide: How Rural Broadband Benefits Communities and the Climate.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

The ReConnect Loan and Grant Program is the main USDA program that supports expanding broadband access.
Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, explained that once an area has broadband, electric co-ops are able to support more technologies of interest to their residential members, including renewable energy, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging.
Broadband also opens the door to using smart grid technology that can allow the grid to be more efficient, secure, resilient, and reliable. The Electric Loan Program can help support smart grid upgrades.
Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association, discussed the role of satellites in providing internet to rural areas. He also emphasized that weather satellites provide farmers with critical information about droughts and flooding.
Almost all the witnesses affirmed that broadband access creates opportunities for the agriculture sector to use precision agriculture techniques that make more efficient use of fertilizer, water, and energy. According to Bill Hurley, chair of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ Agriculture Sector Board, “just one-quarter of farms in the United States are currently able to leverage precision agriculture technologies due to the lack of high-speed connectivity.”

Rural Water: Modernizing Our Community Water Systems

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held this hearing on July 19, 2023, to discuss the challenges facing water and wastewater systems in the United States.

Committees outside the House and Senate Agriculture Committees also hold hearings related to the Farm Bill. For example, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on July 26, 2023, on native priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization.

Policy highlights from this hearing:

Key programs that support upgrading water and wastewater systems are the Water and Waste Disposal Technical Assistance and Training Grant Program, the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households Grant Program, the Water and Waste Disposal Predevelopment Planning Grant Program, the Solid Waste Management Grant Program and, the Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant Program.
USDA and organizations like the Rural Community Assistance Partnership are working to help communities respond after they discover per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in their water supply.
Joseph Duncan, president of the Green Mountain Water Environment Association, discussed a need to shift how water infrastructure is managed so that systems are maintained and upgraded rather than run until they fail. He suggested that climate adaptation and resilience must be built into “integrated asset management.” As he explained, “The country is experiencing extreme weather patterns that affect our water systems. The impacts range from severe heat drying up source waters to heavy wind and rain events damaging water infrastructure, as well as the energy sources that power those facilities. America’s water systems need to develop more resilient infrastructure and adapt to extreme weather patterns.”
The lack of centralized wastewater disposal systems in many rural areas is an environmental justice issue, explained Catherine Coleman Flowers, founding director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice. She outlined examples from across the country with inadequate wastewater management, including Hawai’i, where there are an estimated “88,000 aging cesspools leaking 53 million gallons of untreated waste into streams, oceans, and drinking water every day.”
Heavy precipitation events, which are more frequent and intense because of climate change, compound wastewater management issues.
The Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program is one USDA program that provides funding to address wastewater issues. Both Coleman Flowers and Pauli Undesser, CEO of the Water Quality Association and Water Quality Research Foundation, explained how this revolving loan fund program provides support to maintain septic systems, but does not address many of the broader issues with wastewater management.

Author: Anna McGinn

Contributors: Parthav Easwar, Tom Beach

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