The Farm Bill
The legislation that shapes the U.S. food system
They missed the deadline (again).
Unfortunately, Congress couldn't manage to pass a farm bill by September 30. But we're not giving up! UCS will keep working for healthy food and farm legislation. Stay tuned for news and action opportunities.
Farm Bill Countdown
Each new version of the Farm Bill comes with an expiration date. If the bill isn't renewed by that date, decades-old permanent farm legislation comes back into force.
The 2008 Farm Bill was due to expire on September 30, 2012. But Congress couldn't agree on a new bill before that date, and efforts to include the Farm Bill in the late 2012 "fiscal cliff" negotiations proved fruitless as well.
As a result, a return to the permanent legislation was imminent when Congress passed a bill on January 1, 2013, extending some provisions of the 2008 bill.
The January 2013 extension was a giant step backward for healthy food and farms. Many programs that UCS was recommending for expansion were cut instead.
The deadline for passing a new Farm Bill in 2013 was once again set at September 30—and once again, Congress failed to act in time. America's farmers and consumers deserve better. Congress needs to pass a new bill as soon as possible—a bill that includes forward-looking provisions like those in the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act.
UPDATE, October 1, 2013: The Farm Bill deadline passed, so the extension of the previous bill that passed last year has expired. The Farm Bill is now entangled in the budget battle and looming debt ceiling showdown. For UCS commentary on the latest developments, visit our News Center.
The Farm Bill is a large (currently around $300 billion) legislative package, renewed by Congress at approximately five-year intervals, that shapes federal agricultural policy, with far-reaching implications for our food system.
Our food choices, food costs, and how food production affects our land, air, water, and rural communities—the Farm Bill has impacts on all of this and more.
What's In the Farm Bill?
The Farm Bill is an omnibus bill, which means that it incorporates a wide variety of provisions that might otherwise be considered as separate bills.
For instance, the 2008 Farm Bill includes provisions addressing, among many other things,
- Credit, insurance, and other forms of financial support for farmers
- Conservation
- Nutrition
- Research
- Rural development
A Healthier Farm Bill
The 2008 Farm Bill, though still largely geared to support the industrial food system, contained some important new or expanded provisions to promote sustainable farming and healthier food.
Unfortunately, the temporary extension of the 2008 bill that was passed in January 2013 cut many of these provisions, moving federal farm policy backward (see sidebar).
UCS is working to ensure that the next version of the bill moves us in the right direction, with measures to
- expand the production and accessibility of healthy food
- increase farmers’ adoption of sustainable agriculture and conservation practices
- ramp up publicly-funded research to enable an economically robust and sustainable agriculture and food system.
