Funding for a longstanding food-assistance program is at the center of the Farm Bill reauthorization debate. But there also are calls to make it easier for farmers in North Dakota and elsewhere to access climate-linked programs. The Farm Bill is updated by Congress every five years, and like previous attempts, lawmakers are clashing over funding levels for SNAP benefits, a key component of the policy. The bill also covers conservation programs, which offer incentives for farmers to adopt practices that make their land more resilient.
Michael Happ, program associate, Climate and Rural Communities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policies said it is reasonable for some farm groups to want to make these programs stronger.
"A small farmer, stretched really thin, might not have time to fill out a 20 page application," Happ said. "We need to keep accountability in these programs, and we need to make sure they're not weakened. But it's not easy right now for farmers to access these programs."
Among its Farm Bill requests, the North Dakota Farmers Union wants Congress to increase flexibility for existing conservation programs and provide sufficient funding to meet demand, and Happ added accessibility
issues at the state level. In North Dakota last year, fewer than 20% percent of regional farmers who applied for Conservation Stewardship Program funding were approved.
However, North Dakota fared better in applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Still, Happ continued because there is a long gap between each Farm Bill, lawmakers have a narrow window to make changes as agriculture faces pressure to do its part in addressing climate change.
"If it turns out that we're not dealing with any additional funds, that we're [just] using the funds that we have, I think we need to take a hard look at where the money is going and how it can be better spent," he said.
There are separate proposals in Congress to make improvements to specific conservation programs. As for the Farm Bill, Happ said there appears to be a bipartisan appetite for various upgrades. But some Republicans have signaled they would like to divert funding that falls under the conservation umbrella, such as extra support approved under last year's Inflation Reduction Act. The current Farm Bill expires this fall.
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The Farm Labor Organizing Committee is working to better the harsh conditions faced by North Carolina farm workers. During the British American Tobacco's Annual General Meeting in London, FLOC addressed ongoing abuse in North Carolina's tobacco fields. Being the nation's largest tobacco producer, North Carolina's farms have a track record for endangering workers, according to advocates.
McKenzie Swain, FLOC communications director, highlighted the problems FLOC seeks to resolve for workers as they target British American Tobacco and its American subsidiary, Reynolds American.
"They are barely making a livable wage, many are not, and then they are in inadequate housing working 12 hours a day in the sweltering summer heat, many times not being able to get breaks or have access to clean water, so it's just a multitude of these issues," Swain said.
1 in 4 four workers interviewed in an Oxfam study reported they were paid less than the federally mandated minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and 57 workers said their pay was not enough to meet their basic needs. Swain said despite FLOC's advocacy for Reynolds American Tobacco to address these issues and collaborate in creating an accountable and sustainable system for farm workers in the last decade, no conditions have improved so they are now hoping the new efforts can help them come to an agreement.
The Oxfam study reveals that H-2A visa workers make up less than 9% of the state's farmworker population, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation and hesitant to report mistreatment. The committee represents more than 1,000 workers. It wants to sign an agreement with Reynolds ensuring freedom of association for all farms in their supply chain, enabling them to form organizations and protect their interests and well being.
"A large corporation like BAT, they set the commodity prices, which then in turn stresses small family farms in North Carolina throughout the Southeast, who then -- because they are being squeezed by the large corporations because they have an imbalance in supply chain -- squeeze those at the lowest level, which are the farm workers," she said.
As a result of the organization's attendance at BAT's annual general meeting, Reynolds has agreed to a private meeting, according to Swain. Reynolds is one of the largest tobacco corporations in the world, with annual profits of more than $2 billion.
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Dairy processors and farmers throughout Maine are eligible for grants to help them improve their operations as part of a growing movement to keep locally produced milk in local communities.
The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center is offering $12 million in expansion grants to help farmers purchase new equipment, train employees or market their dairy products.
Jami Badershall, communications manager for the Maine Dairy and Nutrition Council, said it has always been important to Mainers to support their dairy producers.
"It's benefiting all of us to keep that milk local and to keep the local farms going," Badershall explained.
Larger processors can submit pre-applications for grants by May 11 while the application window for smaller dairy farms runs through August. There are roughly 176 dairy farms scattered throughout fifteen counties in Maine, generating more than $900 million in economic activity.
The American Rescue Plan Act allocated $4 billion to bring food prices down as well as make the American food system more resilient.
Badershall stressed Maine's local dairy industry is integral to the state, providing thousands of jobs on and off the farm as well as fresh nutrition to consumers.
"Some people are often surprised that the milk that they are looking at on the grocery store shelf, it came from a farm not that far away within a day or two," Badershall pointed out.
Badershall added consumer demand for locally produced dairy products as well as interest in the farmers themselves has increased, and many consumers are using social media to connect to these producers and learn more about the origins of their food.
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Organic farmers want more time to get their corn crops in the ground and still be able to qualify for crop insurance. Right now, they are held to the same timelines as conventional farmers, which they say puts them at a disadvantage and could cost them their full insurance coverage.
Both conventional and organic farmers are required to have their corn crops in the ground by the end of May in order to be eligible for all of their crop insurance if they need it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency sets final planting dates based on crop and location.
Kelsey Willardson, policy associate at the Center for Rural Affairs, said organic farmers face challenges their conventional counterparts do not, and organic producers need more time for planting without losing their crop insurance coverage.
"Organic farmers need to plant later because they need the soil to be warmer for their seeds, so they will emerge quicker," Willardson pointed out. "It also is a big part of organic weed management, is the timing of their planting."
Willardson noted organic farmers also have to wait until neighbors who may be conventional farmers are done planting before they put their crops in the ground to avoid pollen contamination. Currently, for each day farmers go past the planting deadline, they are penalized 1% of their potential crop insurance coverage while still paying for the full amount.
Noah Wendt, an Iowa crop insurance salesman and owner of A&W Organic Farms, sees stark differences in what conventional and organic farmers are allowed to use on their crops. Organic farmers use fewer seed treatments and other chemicals so they can retain their certification.
Wendt said as a result, organic farmers plant their crops two to three weeks later than conventional ones, putting them right up against the crop insurance deadline. He said an extension by the Risk Management Agency would give organic producers a lot more flexibility.
"So they don't feel like they're under the gun to get it planted when the soil conditions and the weather is not fit," Wendt explained. "It gives them more time and allows them to still achieve a higher revenue guarantee on crop insurance."
The Center for Rural Affairs said the Risk Management Agency can improve the equity of its services and protect the organic producers who are taking extra effort to care for and responsibly manage their land.
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