Other Ag News: 2024 Year in Review: Key Wins, Challenges, and What’s Next for Sustainable Agriculture

There’s no such thing as a ‘quiet’ year when it comes to federal food and farm policy, and 2024 proved to be no exception! As the year comes to a close, we are reflecting on the progress we have made toward building a more resilient and equitable farm and food system. Amidst endless delays in Congress, a noisy election cycle, and major natural disasters that affected farmers nationwide, NSAC continued to do what we do best: advocate for better federal food and farm policy through legislation like the farm bill, annual appropriations, and ongoing engagement with USDA, all aimed at building a future where farmers, workers, and communities sustain a thriving food and farm system that nourishes people, stewards our environment and builds strong economies. 

As of posting, we anticipate that Congress will finish 2024 with yet another extension of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). We will close out yet another year without a new, final 5-year farm bill – meaning the work will continue next year.  In the meantime, we can look to interim progress measures that will serve as guides for our work in the months to come. This year we made strides by introducing or advising on approximately 20 marker bills, conducting champion development to educate lawmakers on key issues affecting farmers and stakeholders in their communities, securing more than 100 cosponsors for our priority bills, supporting four briefings and hearings by recruiting farmer spokespeople, and highlighting NSAC asks in both the Senate and House farm bill frameworks. For example, early in the year, we co-hosted a briefing with the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Committee, making the case for continued funding of conservation programs through the Inflation Reduction Act, sharing personal stories of how these programs support climate-smart practices and resilience on farms, highlighting the challenges of accessing funding, and urging Congress to ensure the program’s sustainability. We were pleased with the inclusion of NSAC asks in the Senate farm bill framework even though the House farm bill mark did not contain nearly as many wins and highlights the need for our work to continue into 2025.

We engaged throughout the annual appropriations funding process for critical existing food, agriculture, and nutrition programs. This year we worked to restore and protect funding for the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, which has been under threat and initially had its funding zeroed out before NSAC led rallying efforts to restore it – it is an important tool for addressing food security, fostering community nutrition education, and using land and resources effectively. Check out FY25 Agriculture Spending Bills: What You Need to Know for our detailed analysis. 

We were in touch with career and political staff at USDA nearly daily in 2024, working hard to keep the agency in contact with farmers and organizations in the field and responsive to their needs through calls, meetings, and directing feedback from the field to USDA. We requested and analyzed USDA data on usage rates, funds awarded, and performance to better understand program impacts and access outcomes, informing our advocacy and outreach to increase equity in access and participation for underserved producers. We helped keep our members in the field up to date on USDA actions, including opportunities to shape the agency’s work by sharing their lived experiences in their communities. We played a critical conduit role in helping our members have a voice in Washington directly with decision-makers. This is multi-year work that builds on sustaining effective relationships with political and career staff at USDA combined with delivering consistent formal and informal recommendations. 

2024 was also a year of educating, empowering, and rallying farmers and advocates to make sure the voices of grassroots leaders were heard.  A larger and restructured grassroots team increased our ability to provide hands-on support to our nearly 160 member organizations. With this expanded capacity, NSAC piloted new approaches to mobilize our membership as well as non-member partners in support of sustainable agriculture policies. 

When we campaign, we show up everywhere! We hosted over 150 farmers and advocates in Washington, DC, for a Hill Day following our annual winter members meeting, and our annual summer meeting in St. Paul, MN, focused on strategizing for the year ahead. 

In addition, NSAC was present at nearly two dozen conferences and events across the country, which provided an opportunity to share the deep analysis behind our shared priorities with larger audiences and to build power for a stronger sustainable food and agriculture movement. Some of these spaces included the OEFFA Conference organized by NSAC member Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, the National Urban Agriculture Conference, and the Farm Aid Festival. 

Local and Regional Food Systems

• NSAC hosted a Congressional briefing on the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program this year, to highlight the importance and impact of the LFPA for policymakers. We were pleased by USDA’s announcement of additional funding for LFPA in 2025.
• The EAT Local Foods Act advances local food systems and regional agricultural economies, was introduced in the Senate with more than 12 original cosponsors at the time of introduction; and was endorsed by more than 180 farmers/organizations. See our blog post: Senate Bill Offers a Pathway to Sustain Local Food Purchasing Program for more analysis. 
• We endorsed, influenced, and worked to advance several additional marker bills focused on key local and regional food systems needs, such as the Strengthening Local Processing Act (SLPA), co-sponsored in the House by Representatives Baird (R-IN-4), Kuster (D-NH-2), Levin (D-CA-49), Tokuda (D-HI-2), Craig, (D-MN-2), Perez, Marie Gluesenkamp (D-WA-3), Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3), Kilmer (D-WA-6), Lawler (R-NY-17), McGovern (D-MA-2), Schrier (D-WA-8), Bishop (D-GA-2) and in the Senate by Senators Brown (D-OH), Merkley, (D-OR), Rounds (R-SD), Cramer (R-ND), Smith (D-MN), and King, Jr. (I-ME). 
• We led the national push to secure continued funding for the highly successful Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. Working closely with Congressional champions and USDA leadership, we secured a critical win: in October, the USDA announced a new round of funding for states, territories, and tribes to buy and distribute local, nutritious foods. This win came after we organized nearly 600 food banks, hubs, pantries, farmers, and organizations to urge USDA to keep the program alive, which was set to expire in April 2025.
• Through all of these efforts, farmer stories were the common thread as they helped us make the case for why policy change is needed. We created a blog series: Recent Investments Fuel Local Food Systems and How People Power Local Food Systems which includes stories of farmers that illustrate the broader impact and effectiveness of USDA food system investments and technical assistance programs for farmers, small-scale meat and poultry processors, food hubs, and more.

Climate Change

• We were glad to see that five out of the nine practices that NSAC recommended to NRCS on the FY25 list of Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry practices were added: conservation crop rotation to reduce salt concentration; the use of soil health assessment for the development of cover crop mix to improve soil health; adding food-producing trees and shrubs to existing plantings; cultural planting; and the restoration of sensitive coastal vegetative communities.
• We tracked climate-related legislation and research, including the Fifth National Climate Assessment, and rallied support for a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable farm bill through a sign-on letter backed by 1,096 organizations. This letter emphasized the importance of addressing climate change, equity, and hunger in the upcoming legislative framework. 
• We shared relevant analyses throughout the year, such as the blog post – Farmers and Ranchers Love the IRA’s Climate-Smart Funding. Will the House Farm Bill Pull the Rug Out from Under Them? – to show how farm bill proposals threatened to undermine successful climate investments by shifting funds away from popular conservation programs and climate-focused practices.

Farm Safety Net

• Following continued advocacy and conversations over the years, we were pleased that FSA announced a new 100-page final rule in August: Enhancing Access and Delivery for Farm Loans, which includes reduced collateral requirements, flexible repayment terms, and a new distressed borrower program, and to which we submitted a comment. 
• We supported key legislative initiatives to improve credit and land access for underserved farmers, including the Save Our Small (SOS) Farms Act which would have meaningfully expanded access to the farm safety net for small, diversified, and underserved farmers and ranchers who find themselves at the mercy of worsening storms but unable to access coverage. 
• We endorsed bills on credit and land access like the Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act introduced in the House and the Senate in June, which directed the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to develop a multi-year operating loan pilot for beginning farmers to finance initial assets and the development of production and management systems.
• We organized multiple “Weeks of Action” to mobilize grassroots support. In March, we co-organized a Week of Action on credit access, resulting in 500+ contacts with legislators. In April, Farm Bill for All Farmers: Conservation, not Consolidation “Week of Action” generated 2,000 emails and 100 calls to Congress, advocating for climate-friendly farm safety net programs. We continued cross-issue work, providing critical resources like USDA “RFA Roundups” for NGOs and growers.

Reports, Publications, and Research

• In February, NSAC launched Unsustainable: State of the Farm Safety Net which features a comprehensive analysis of the accessibility and concentration of public dollars distributed through crop insurance premium subsidies, commodity programs, and ad-hoc disaster assistance. We hosted a virtual briefing for lawmakers and the press to share key takeaways from the report.
• In May, we published Assessing Farm Bill Conservation Programs in the Delaware River Watershed: Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, which examines the footprint of conservation programs in the region over the life of the 2018 Farm Bill, covering fiscal years (FY) 2019 through 2023. This report provides an overview of each of the major farm bill conservation programs and concludes with a detailed analysis of conservation program utilization in the DRW.
• In September, we published a new report: Stewarding Success: CSP Under the 2018 Farm Bill. This comprehensive analysis delves into Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) enrollment from fiscal year (FY) 2019 to 2023, uncovering trends in program spending and practices that have significantly enhanced environmental outcomes at the farm, state, and national levels. The publication was followed by a five-part blog post series highlighting the key findings of the report and offering a national overview of this vital farm bill conservation program. The series begins here.
• In October, NSAC and partners published a commentary titled: Sustainable agriculture impacts in urban settings make the case for federal investments, in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development. It emphasizes the vital role of urban agriculture in fostering food sovereignty, driving economic development and enhancing community well being.   
• NSAC published more than 40 blog posts, 34 press releases, and numerous action alerts this year! Many of our blog posts offered analysis available nowhere else, including a series that looked closely at the 2022 Census of Agriculture, a deep dive into conservation practices, our Path to a New Farm Bill series, which explored key sustainable agriculture and food systems challenges that the farm bill can address. 
• We helped farmers get heard by identifying opportunities to elevate farmers’ voices through grassroots efforts. For example, we partnered with Andy Petran, owner of Twin Cities Berry Company, to publish an op-ed advocating for the expansion of the Whole Farm Revenue Protection (crop insurance) program. Additionally, we worked with Katy Rogers, manager of Teter Organic Farm in Noblesville, to co-author an op-ed calling on Congress to increase permanent funding for the Conservation Stewardship Program to support diversified, organic, and innovative producers. Both op-eds were developed in close collaboration with the farmers and garnered significant media attention.

We are clear-eyed about the challenges that await us in 2025 and we are committed to tracking, reporting, and sharing opportunities, challenges, and analysis with our community in the days to come.  The delays in Congress this year mean many of our priorities are still in flux, and we are focused on maintaining pressure to ensure progress in upcoming legislative and administrative processes, including the farm bill. With the current administration wrapping up, in recent weeks we have been focused on the critical opportunity to solidify implementation successes before the year’s end.

We are already preparing comprehensive recommendations for the incoming Administration and are making plans to engage with and educate new Members of Congress. Our winter members’ meeting in February 2025, followed by a Hill Day, will provide another platform to bring farmers’ concerns directly to policymakers. In 2025, we will continue to amplify grassroots voices and hold lawmakers accountable. 

We are grateful to our coalition members, supporters, donors, partners, and the broader community for your unwavering dedication in helping us move this work forward. Your continued support fuels our progress. We encourage you to stay connected and engaged as we move into the new year. Keep an eye out for our refreshed newsletter, launching in early 2025. Thank you for being an essential part of this journey.

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