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Once again, the summer break came and went in a blink of an eye. As we enter the time of year when students return to the classroom, all of us at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offer encouragement at every step of the journey.
Editor’s Note: This post is part of a multi-part blog series. Our first post in this series explored initial themes from the Census, while this post offers a deeper dive into conservation practices. Our next post in the series will explore what the Census shows us about local and regional food systems.
In early 2024, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Conducted every five years, the Census of Agriculture is sent to every known agricultural producer in the country to ask important questions about their farms and how they manage them. The data provided by the Census of Agriculture is an essential and comprehensive tool for all stakeholders to understand what is happening in US agriculture and food.
A Mixed But Positive PictureThe 2022 Agricultural Census paints a mixed but generally positive picture of conservation. Notably, even when examining specific measures such as conservation practices, the national trend of farm loss and farm consolidation continues to shape the overall context.
For example, the Census shows increasing use of key practices like conservation tillage and cover crops and durable protection of acres in conservation easements. Meanwhile, there are fewer but larger pasture and grazing operations, reflecting broader national trends. While the Census shows a decline in the reported acreage enrolled in conservation reserve programs, data from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) confirms a more recent growth in enrollments. FSA publishes monthly updates on acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP,) which provide a more accurate assessment of CRP enrollment.
These findings highlight the importance of programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to support conservation efforts and the potential for increased impact if these programs were expanded and given a more long-term scope.
More Acreage Protected With Cover CropsCover crops are planted to protect the soil and provide nutrients, rather than planted for harvest. Cover crops are a valuable conservation practice that prevents soil erosion and improves soil health while providing additional benefits such as weed suppression, pest control, and improved biodiversity.
A positive finding is that there were an additional 2.6 million acres with cover crops (a 17% increase) in 2022 than in 2017 and a 50% increase in acres with cover crops from 2012. Additionally, it is significant that the number of farms reporting use of cover crops is steady from 2017 and a 15% increase from 2012, despite the overall decline in the number of farms during this time period.
This growth in cover crop usage is very encouraging as cover crops provide a wide range of soil health and ecosystem benefits. This growth speaks to the likely impact of cover crop support in major USDA conservation programs. For instance, in fiscal year (FY) 2022 there were more than 3.13 million acres that received payments for the Cover Crop conservation practice from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and it was the conservation practice with the highest practice count nationwide.
Fewer But Larger Pasture and Grazing OperationsPasture and grazing land serves as an important part of the national conservation picture. Pasture and grazing lands provide stable carbon storage, improved soil quality and water quality, and wildlife habitat.
Unfortunately, there were approximately 1 million fewer acres in pasture and grazing land that could have been used for crops without additional improvements than 2017 (a 6% decrease), just barely (1%) above 2012 acres. The 8% increase in acres of pasture and grazing land that could have been used for crops between 2012 and 2017 was the first increase in 20 years. Since the 1997 high of 66.4 million acres, the amount of cropland used for pasture has steadily declined.
This is largely because of an overall decline in the number of farms during this time period. Nationally, the total number of farms declined by 7% between 2017 and 2022. And although the number of farms reporting pasture and grazing land that could have been used for crops only declined by 6%, those farms that reported pasture and grazing land in 2022 were, on average, 11% larger in 2022 than in 2012. This data indicates that producers continue to see value in pasture and grazing lands for their operations but as the trend of fewer, larger farms continues, the agricultural landscape loses pastureland and the attendant environmental and climate benefits it generates.
Nearly 8 million fewer acres of permanent pasture and rangeland were reported in 2022 than in 2017 (a 2% decrease). For the past twenty years, the number of acres in permanent pasture and rangeland has hovered at approximately 400 million, with 393 million in 2022 the lowest it has dipped since 1997.
Again, this is largely driven by an overall shift towards fewer but larger farms during this time period. Those farms that report having permanent pasture and rangeland were 14% larger in 2022 than in 2017.
Rotational grazing is an approach to livestock management that involves rotating livestock through sections of pasture in a planned sequence. Rotational grazing can improve pasture soil health, reduce erosion, improve forage quality, and improve water management as it improves climate resilience.
While there was a 10% decline in the number of farms (nearly 27,000 fewer) that report practicing rotational or management-intensive grazing in 2022 from 2017, the proportion of all farms in the US that report rotational or management-intensive grazing was unchanged, representing 13% of all farms in the US. Again, this decline largely reflects the total farm loss during this time period.
Steady Acreage Permanently Protected for ConservationConservation easements are voluntary permanent agreements that limit some land uses in order to protect the conservation value of the land. Landowners generally sell or donate some of the rights of their land to a public or private trust, creating a permanent easement on the property that prevents some land uses such as subdivision or development. The conservation easement transfers with any future sale or inheritance of the land, ensuring long-term protection of conservation priorities.
Because of the generally permanent nature of conservation easements, the base acreage enrolled in easements should only increase or maintain steady between Census periods. As expected, the number of acres reported as being under conservation easement is virtually identical in 2022, 2017, and 2012 at just over 13 million acres. This includes over 5.6 million acres of USDA NRCS supported conservation easements, 81% of which are permanent easements.
More Soil Protected With Conservation TillageConservation tillage and no-till methods protect soil health and reduce soil erosion, increase crop resilience, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and save labor costs. Using conservation tillage involves covering at least 30% of soil surface with crop residue and/or straw following planting. No-till farming leaves the soil surface undisturbed by tillage and crop residue is left on the soil surface.
In encouraging news, an additional 756,176 acres (an 8% increase) were managed with no-till methods in 2022 than in 2017 and 21,584 additional farms (a 7% increase) reported using no-till methods. The acreage and number of farms using no-till methods were virtually identical to 2012.
Unfortunately, 692,675 fewer acres were managed with conservation tillage in 2022 than 2017, although 11,152 additional farms report using conservation tillage. The acreage and number of farms using conservation tillage both increased from 2012, a 28% increase in acreage and an 11% increase in number of farms.
These findings suggest that conservation and no-till methods continue to be a significant conservation practice for American farmers, but the fluctuation and lack of strong growth in the practice of no-till and conservation tillage also highlights the challenges of short-term conservation programs such as EQIP. Between 2017 and 2022, EQIP and CSP contracts included 3 million acres of the no till conservation practice and 2.2 million acres of the reduced tillage conservation practice, but those contracts are for a maximum of three years for EQIP, with the majority being only for one year, and five years for CSP. Long-term conservation contracts would support the sustained practice of conservation and no-till methods.
Declining Acreage in Conservation Reserve Programs Followed by RecoveryConservation reserve programs are voluntary programs funded by USDA that provide vital income for producers while helping to restore and protect ecosystems that are essential for biodiversity, water quality, preventing soil erosion, and increasing carbon sequestration by removing environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production. These programs include the Conservation Reserve, Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Partnership, Farmable Wetlands, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs, all of which pay farmers an annual rental payment in exchange for ecologically vulnerable land that is removed from agricultural production.
The Census shows that between the 2017 and 2022 Census, the US lost approximately 1.8 million acres of land (a decline of 8%) enrolled in Conservation Reserve, Wetlands Reserve, Farmable Wetlands, or Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs and a 23% decrease from 2012. However, the number of acres enrolled in Conservation Reserve programs is actually an underestimate, as the FSA reports approximately 22 million acres enrolled in Conservation Reserve Programs in 2022. This underestimate is likely the result of measurement error from the Census’ reliance on self-reported participation rather than FSA administrative data.
In encouraging news, despite the decline in Conservation Reserve Program acreage from 2012, recent FSA data from 2023 and 2024 shows a 14% increase in acreage to 25 million acres. Total CRP enrollment is rapidly approaching the national acreage cap of 27 million acres (in 2024), reflecting the growth in enrollment of grasslands acres in recent years. It also likely reflects the impact of decreasing the required Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) to enroll in CRP, a move that made it easier to enroll acres with a lower conservation benefit. Recent directives from FSA also indicate that they closed the CRP Continuous Enrollment for 2025 on July 31, 2024 because they expect to have reached the acreage cap. States are directed that any applications received after that date have no guarantee when and if the offer will be accepted.
Overall Favorable with Some Mixed OutcomesOverall, the 2022 Census of Agriculture paints an optimistic view of agricultural conservation but highlights the need for continued growth in these key areas. While the use of key conservation practices has increased, they are still practiced on a minority of American farms and there is a continued need for investment in voluntary conservation programs such as the Conservation Stewardship Program to support the transition to sustainable management. NSAC and its members will continue to advocate for policies that support these essential foundations of a sustainable food system.
For more on the 2022 Census of Agriculture stay tuned to the NSAC blog, and check out the following resources:
2022 Census of Agriculture Report
The post Promising Conservation Results in the 2022 Agricultural Census appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Marana, ARIZONA, September 12, 2024 – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today visited two communities in Arizona to highlight U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investments that protect communities and natural resources from wildfire and drought, expand access to clean energy and create jobs, and build stronger, more resilient communities.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced an investment of nearly $121 million to advance research and Extension activities that aim to solve key challenges facing specialty crop and organic agriculture producers. The investment includes $70.4 million to support specialty crop production research across the United States and $50.5 million to support farmers and ranchers who grow and market high-quality organic food, fiber and organic products.
WASHINGTON, September 10, 2024 - Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $100 million in 21 new projects to expand work on the USDA Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy to reduce the threat of wildfire in high-risk areas across the country.
Each week USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) publishes a series of retail reports through our Market News service that reflect advertised prices for products being featured to consumers at grocery stores across the country. We recently transitioned our retail reports covering red meats, poultry, and eggs to the My Market News platform, which allows users to filter and customize the information to meet their individual needs. This is part of an ongoing effort to modernize the AMS market reporting data collection and delivery system to improve the customer experience.
On September 9, 2024, Congress will be back in session in Washington, DC for the first time since early August. Yet, their return will be short lived. In an election year, Members of Congress spend all of October and early November in their states and Congressional districts. In total, Congress will be in session for three full weeks before adjourning on September 27.
During those three weeks, there are two major items on Congress’s to-do list. By October 1, Congress will need to fund the government for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and determine how to extend (again) the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). Failure to complete either or both of these tasks will likely impact farmers, ranchers, and food system stakeholders nationwide who utilize federal programs. This post examines where both tasks stand as September begins.
Funding the GovernmentOnly six months ago, Congress passed and the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 (CAA), which funds the government through September 30. The complicated and unique FY2024 appropriations process was a product of the times. As we have noted before, Congress has developed an increasing inability to enact appropriations legislation on time. In 2023, Congress also struck a deal to raise the federal debt-ceiling by setting a cap on FY2024 and FY2025 defense and non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending. Commonly referred to as the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA, P.L. 118-5), the deal applied an NDD spending cap of $703.65 billion for FY2024 and $710.68 billion for FY2025. In addition to the caps, Congressional agriculture appropriators in the House and Senate also had the unique challenge of meeting a higher-than-originally-anticipated funding need for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC.
This unique process resulted in a delayed conclusion to the FY2024 appropriations process and a final FY2024 agriculture funding bill that included numerous painful cuts. Importantly, the bill contained some bright spots and rejected harmful policy riders, including those that would have stifled fair competition and hampered the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ability to respond to emergent agricultural needs. Nonetheless, cuts to many programs critical to sustainable agriculture were deeply disappointing.
Since the CAA was signed into law in March 2024, Congress has slowly inched forward its FY2025 appropriations bills, including for USDA. On July 11, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved their FY2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill with unanimous, bipartisan agreement. This outcome in the Senate stands in sharp contrast to what transpired in the House Appropriations Committee just a day earlier: a roughly two-hour-long Committee markup that resulted in the approval of the House’s FY25 Agriculture spending bill along strict party lines. However, since these Committee markups in July, neither the House nor Senate versions of the FY2025 agriculture spending bill have moved forward.
So where do things go from here?
Instead of finishing individual FY2025 appropriations bills, Congress will pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) this September to fund the government, including USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), beyond September 30. The CR will in all likelihood run through sometime in December 2024, at which point Congress will reconvene after the election to fund the government on a longer-term basis.
For farmers, ranchers, and food system stakeholders who utilize federal programs, the instability and cuts resulting from the FY2024 and FY2025 appropriations processes are significant. Cuts to research, conservation, and local and regional food programs in the final FY2024 agriculture appropriations bill are again reflected in the House’s FY2025 proposal. Furthermore, the House’s FY2025 proposal again insists on harmful policy riders that would prevent the implementation of rules designed to promote fair competition for livestock and poultry producers under the Packers and Stockyards Act and prevent any funding for efforts at USDA to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities.
In Search of a Farm BillIn November 2023, the five-year 2018 Farm Bill was extended for nearly a full year, through September 30, 2024. Now just weeks away from the expiration of that extension, Congress has been unable to reach an agreement on how to move forward on a final, new farm bill. Unfortunately, the prospects for a new farm bill this year – much less by September 30 – remain uncertain at best. As a result, one of the most important things that Congress can and should do this September is to again extend the 2018 Farm Bill.
There are three primary ways in which a program might be negatively impacted – or “stranded” – if the 2018 Farm Bill is allowed to expire on October 1, 2024. First, a program may lack funding beyond that date. Second, a program may lack the legal authority to continue operating beyond that same date absent a farm bill extension. And third, a program could have no funding and no legal authority. What follows is an assessment of several key programs for NSAC members and how they may be impacted without an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill by October 1, 2024.
- Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) – Despite permanent mandatory funding for LAMP, the authority for the grant program will lapse on October 1, 2024. Without an extension or reauthorization, the grant cycle may be interrupted.
- Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) – CRP’s statutory authorization will end on September 30, and consequently, no new work would likely be able to occur within that program without action from Congress. However, because CRP is at or very near its cap of 27 million acres, the impact on the program without a farm bill extension will be somewhat lessened. Nonetheless, without an extension effective as of October 1st:
- FSA will not approve CRP contracts for any signup types
- FSA will not process offers for enrollment in CRP for all signup types
- FSA will not authorize any CRP contract revisions or corrections
- Conservation Reserve Program Transition Incentive Program (CRP-TIP) – although this program is not considered one of the “stranded” programs, it has continued to rely on a shrinking amount of money from the 2018 Farm Bill. A farm bill extension that fails to include additional funding for CRP-TIP is likely to result in a listless program.
- National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) – OCCSP does not have ‘permanent baseline’ funding and therefore without a provision that specifically offers continued funding and authorization for OCCSP, the cost share program will expire, potentially leaving thousands of organic farmers with a huge net increase in their annual certification costs.
- The Organic Production and Market Data Initiatives (ODI) and Scholarships for 1890s Institutions both lack permanent baseline funding and will also need dedicated funding in any farm bill extension.
- Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Program (OREI) – Despite mandatory funding for the program, the authority for the grant program ends after 2024. Without an extension or reauthorization, the next grant cycle may be interrupted.
- Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach Program (FOTO) – Despite mandatory funding for the program, the legal authority for the grant program lapses on October 1, 2024. Therefore, like LAMP and OREI discussed above, absent an extension or reauthorization, the next grant cycle may be interrupted.
By and large, the farm safety net – ranging from credit to crop insurance and commodity programs – will continue to operate with little interruption through the end of 2024. If, however, the farm bill is not reauthorized or extended by January 1, 2025, commodity programs will begin to be replaced with “permanent law,” or non-expiring provisions established in the 1938 and 1949 Farm Bills. The first commodity to be impacted is dairy. Congress has maintained but suspended permanent law in each farm bill since the 1960s as a force-function to reauthorize the farm bill, lest the temporary suspension expires and force USDA to implement antiquated farm intervention programs.
At the time of publishing, it is unclear whether Congress will adequately address these issues in a farm bill extension by September 30, 2024, leaving the door open to mounting impacts nationwide.
The post Government Funding and Farm Bill’s Future Top Congress’ September To-Do List appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2024 – Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement following the release of the Economic Research Service’s 2024 Farm Sector Income Forecast:
“Today’s farm sector income forecast shows that, while the projection shows a decline from the 2022 record high, 2024 is expected to close out a four-year streak of net farm income that’s above the 20-year average. For the prior four years, net farm income was consistently at or below that historic average, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
WESTBY, WI, Sept. 5, 2024 – During a visit to Wisconsin today, President Joe Biden and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce more than $7.3 billion in financing for rural electric cooperatives to build clean energy for rural communities across the country through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program.
Editor’s Note: This post is part of a multi-part series exploring some of the key sustainable agriculture and food systems challenges that the farm bill can address. Through a series comparing the House and Senate Agriculture Committees’ proposals, we provide an assessment of how each chamber’s bill would address a given challenge, and our recommended path forward. Additional posts explore how the next farm bill can tackle issues in meat processing, crop insurance, organic and sustainable agriculture research, and more.
Seventeen million households across the United States – or one in eight – experienced food insecurity in 2022. The farm bill is the piece of federal legislation that provides a critical lifeline for seniors, individuals, and families who cannot readily access the food they need.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has a longstanding history of advocating for win-win programs and initiatives that allow families to utilize their federal nutrition benefits in direct marketing settings, like farmers’ markets and farm stands, while simultaneously generating revenue for small, beginning, and local farmers.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Congress relied on these initiatives to reach vulnerable communities everywhere by increasing the financial benefit for families, providing flexibility in program delivery, and funneling excess agricultural products into emergency feeding services. These decisions paid off. Food insecurity rates decreased while programs were in full effect. But as additional benefits and programs expired in 2022, food insecurity increased again to a level higher than any previous single year since the Great Recession in 2008. These rates have continued to climb in 2023 and are signaling significant food affordability issues for families.
Photo Credit: USDAAs Congress is in the middle of reauthorizing the farm bill, they have an opportunity to ensure programs have sufficient funding to meet the growing needs among families and ensure accessible market opportunities for farmers. Current proposals in both the House and Senate attempt to address this issue to varying degrees. While both offer funding increases, only the Senate includes solutions to eliminate persistent barriers to participation and offers sustainable approaches for local food system development.
The Senate’s proposal addresses food access and affordability in a number of ways that provide autonomy to households and increase spending with small farmers and local markets.
- It responds to insufficient funding for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program that has left numerous states and Tribes from being able to participate by providing $100 million over 10 years and prioritizing underserved areas.
- It recognizes the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program’s (GusNIP) efficient and effective approach to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among participants and promotes program expansion by scaling funding by $750 million over ten years, increasing the federal cost-share, and offering pathways for cooperative agreements with partners who have the capacity to implement state-wide programs.
- It also directs the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to streamline vendor program applications so farmers can readily participate in programs that currently often require four separate applications. This in turn will ensure federal nutrition benefits can be easily used in direct-marketing settings.
- It permanently authorizes the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program whose primary purpose is to strengthen local supply chains and promote new market opportunities for underserved farmers, but also encourages local control over the types of foods reaching food banks and pantries, creating greater consumer satisfaction.
The House approach in the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (FFNSA, HR 8467) also increases resources for programs targeting food security and nutrition within low-access areas, though not to the levels truly needed to address demand. Moreover, the FFNSA sorely missed the opportunity to create programs that generate simultaneous benefits for our nation’s farmers.
- It provides an additional $2 million annually for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which will not be enough to ensure all interested states and Tribes can participate.
- It seeks to expand nutrition incentive offerings through GusNIP by offering a match waiver for persistent poverty areas and increasing funding to $75 million annually, which will take an incremental approach to improving program access.
It ignores the momentum and success of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program and instead of authorizing a permanent program, it creates an entirely new Food Box Pilot Program that unfortunately resembles the disappointing Farmers to Families Food Box Program that ended in May 2021 after a number of incidences of not adequately serving communities or the small and mid-sized farmers heavily impacted by COVID-19.
The Final PathThe unique timing of this farm bill offers an opportunity for Congress to reflect on the tumultuous years of the COVID-19 pandemic and on the effectiveness of established and novel programs in meeting the nutrition and food security needs of our communities. It is imperative that the farm bill provides flexibility and autonomy for consumers utilizing their nutrition benefits and that farmers and local markets have ready access to benefit from the billions of federal dollars invested in these programs. That means a final farm bill must:
- Ensure enough funding is available for all states and Tribes to participate in impactful senior nutrition programs while providing program model and implementation flexibility to meet unique rural needs,
- Promote the expansion of highly popular and effective nutrition incentive programs by lowering the match requirements, encouraging statewide applications, and providing sufficient investment for adequate scale,
- Identify barriers to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program modernization in farmers markets, roadside stands, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and invest in solutions that ensure local farmers can readily access the market opportunity,
- Invest in localized food access solutions such as the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program that support the viability of local farmers and increase the availability of high quality local and culturally appropriate foods in food pantries and other emergency food settings.
The post Path to a New Farm Bill: Increasing Access and Affordability in Local Food Systems appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
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