July Farm Bill Update
NOC Urges Congress to Pass Farm Bill in 2024
This week, NOC joined hundreds of food and agriculture groups in a letter asking Congress to enact Farm Bill legislation before the end of 2024. Without action this year, Farm Bill negotiations will be further delayed in 2025 by other priorities in the new Congress like leadership and committee seating and other administrative duties.
Farm Bill Progress Has Stalled
Progress to enact new five-year Farm Bill legislation has once again stalled. A second one-year extension of the Farm Bill remains the most likely outcome given the macro challenges related to policy disagreements over the SNAP program and funding for climate change mitigation. Passage of the bill in 2024 is further complicated by the fall election and the lack of floor time in the House and Senate due to urgent work to pass appropriations bills to fund the government before the September 30 deadline.
Organic Certification Cost Share Program is at Risk if Farm Bill is Extended
In the light of the likely Farm Bill impasse in 2024, NOC is shifting focus to protecting core organic programs in a second one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill. Unfortunately, under this scenario, the Organic Certification Cost Share Program at risk! Unlike larger Farm Bill programs which are automatically included in a Farm Bill extension, the Organic Certification Cost Share Program is too small to have ‘permanent baseline’ funding status.
In the Farm Bill extension passed in November 2023, we secured additional funding for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program. We will need to do that again to ensure funding for the program in 2025 if the Farm Bill is once again extended.
NOC Analysis of House & Senate Bills
In May, NOC celebrated the release of a detailed Farm Bill framework, put forward by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and mobilized the organic community to express serious concerns about the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, passed by the House Agriculture Committee on May 24.