Next Farm Bill Could Be Revolutionary
Farm Foundation hosted U.S. Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.), Chuck Conner, Jonathan Coppess and Christopher Adamo during their Dec. 6 forum focused on the 2023 Farm Bill. Spencer Chase, managing editor of Agri-Pulse, moderated the discussion.
The big question the four addressed: Will the 2023 Farm Bill be revolutionary?
Thompson, the Republican leader and incoming chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, provided opening comments.
"We have three options for the upcoming farm bill: let it expire, pass an extension or craft a bill that works for all farmers, ranchers, producers and foresters nationwide," he said. "Of course, this is predicated on bipartisanship and the will of the House and Senate."
He said that a reliable farm safety net is "paramount." Nearly 80% of federal funding to producers since 2018 has come from sources outside of the farm bill.
"No sector has been harmed more by our broken immigration system than agriculture. Though it is far from perfect, I voted for the farm workforce modernization act, a bill that aims to address this very issue," Thompson said.
Thompson believes that HR-8069, or the Reducing Farm Input Costs and Barriers to Domestic Production Act, would reduce many regulatory actions the Biden administration has put in place by addressing escalating input costs, and provide certainty to farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses and other entities within food and ag supply chains.
"American agriculture, if given the right tools and regulatory confidence, can expand its vital role in alleviating global food instability and reducing costs for consumers," Thompson said.
Conner, a native Hoosier and current president and CEO of National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, opened with the burning question: What is the climate for the farm bill? Should farmers look at revolutionary or evolutionary changes?
"It's probably a little early to tell in terms of the farm bill, prices are pretty good, generally speaking, but we're coming off a lot of drought and we're coming off high input prices, and I think it's yet to be determined if this is a revolutionary solution or perhaps something else," Conner said.
The last revolutionary farm bill was in 1996 (Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act), according to Conner. Before that, 1985 was the latest revolutionary farm bill. All the others in between resolved with minor tweaks around the edges.
A revolutionary farm bill could take place due to the Biden administration's focus on climate change, he said.
Conner says four key areas will shape the debate: climate and regenerative agriculture, urban versus rural, cost, and nutrition. Cost content is hard to predict, he said.
"My sense is that it's going to be more of an austere kind of farm bill, where at least some reasonable minds are going to say, 'Look, throughout COVID we have spent a ton of money in this country, our deficit is at staggering that the Federal Reserve is having trouble even digesting,'" which will increase challenges going forward with the bill.
"I believe that this farm bill that we're debating in 2023 will need to be able to carry a label as the most climate-friendly bill that we have ever passed in Congress in the terms of agriculture," Conner said.
The question is how do you do that? Incentives, denying subsidies and payments or through mandate?
A roadblock Conner sees is that the already 76% nutrition program funding is projected to take 84% of the farm bill spending.
"This creates an enormous divide here," he said.
However, he also notes that the "four corners: of the 2023 Farm Bill include highly experienced U.S. Reps. David Scott (Ga.-13) and Thompson and U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.).
"This is a very, very seasoned squad," Conner said. "We stand a reasonably good chance at getting a good farm bill delivered on time because of simply who is representing us in this process."
Following Conner's prediction that climate change would be a big deciding factor for the 2023 Farm Bill, Coppess, director of Agriculture Policy Program and associate professor of law and policy at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Adamo, former staff director of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, elaborated on the idea.
Coppess and Adamo considered whether climate change would drive a revolutionary farm bill for 2023.
"If we're going to drive a revolutionary farm bill this time around, climate change is likely the reason," Coppess said.
Adamo identified the next possible next steps for the 2023 Farm Bill. They include: creating a greater equitable farm support system, continuing to link consumer demands to farm policy, modernizing conservation programs to meet the demands of the land and leveraging SNAP to create more consumer choices.
Before going further, Coppess took a moment to define the terms surrounding the status of the upcoming farm bill. There are three possible approaches to the farm bill, he said, echoing Thompson's analysis. These are: status quo, evolutionary and revolutionary.
A status quo farm bill indicates that Congress makes very few or minor changes. The term evolutionary suggests that Congress makes substantive changes but mostly within a direction or trend established by previous farm bills.
A revolutionary farm bill would mean that Congress makes major changes that go against previous evolutions or push in a new and different direction.
Coppess suggested that if a revolutionary farm bill based on climate change is established that a focus be put on assisting farmers in covering the cost of adopting those policies and practices and adapting their resources to fit their new needs.
"This isn't a way to force every farmer through it, but to provide options," he said. "This isn't compliance; this is an alternative pathway for those innovative farmers who want to compete in the climate space and in the conservation of natural resource space."
He said there is a way to "backstop" and make sure farmers are not at a competitive disadvantage every step of the way: To combine the funds in ARC, PLC, EQIP, CSP and RCPP to meet their common denominator, which is climate-smart agriculture. This, Coppess said, would open $80,000 of funding for a climate-centric farm bill.
Possible EQIP incentives could be multi-year cost shares and multi-practice options, Adamo said.
Coppess and Adamo said they are not proposing wiping out the different policies and programs but are pointing out the potential they think there is for uniting them under one cause.
From there, they went on to discuss SNAP, a program that serves to increase nutritional options to Americans who would otherwise be unable to afford healthy food.
Adamo says SNAP may be used as a lever for climate solutions, expanding consumer options or both.
"There's been a very difficult debate about whether or not to mandate certain food purchases in SNAP," Adamo said. Incentives are a third option to encourage healthier food choices.
"To Chris' point, there's a lot of potential in a program the size of SNAP to incentivize the climate-smart supply chain," Coppess added.
A climate-centric farm bill would hit SNAP first and hardest due to this, according to Coppess and Adamo.
As 2023 Farm Bill discussions continue, the question remains: Will this be the year for another revolutionary farm bill? After more than 25 years, Conner, Coppess and Adamo think it may be about time.