Recently, USDA has taken a particular interest in mental health concerns in rural America. This two part blog post will address what USDA is doing to address both the opioid crisis and farmer suicide. The Opioid Crisis The entire country has been hard-hit by the opioid crisis, but rural communities are especially impacted. Drug overdose deaths in rural communities have…
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Florence and Michael, farmers across the Southeast face devastating losses to this year’s harvest and livestock operations. Through the Farm Bill and other authorizing statutes, Congress has created several programs that allow farmers to receive financial assistance after a natural disaster. These USDA programs go far in helping affected individuals recover and move forward. However, USDA disaster relief programs…
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Florence and Michael, farmers across the Southeast face devastating losses to this year’s harvest and livestock operations. Through the Farm Bill and other authorizing statutes, Congress has created several programs that allow farmers to receive financial assistance after a natural disaster. These USDA programs go far in helping affected individuals recover and move forward. However,…
Corrected 10/10/2018: An earlier version of this blog post misstated that the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) does not have funding for FY19, thereby indicating FDPIR as an orphan program. This was incorrect. FDPIR is funded though the SNAP budget and, like SNAP, will continue to operate. The program within FDPIR that loses baseline funding is a $1…
This is a two part blog post. Part One covers the background of the legislative process and Part Two covers the specifics about the scenarios for farm bill programs if the 2018 Farm Bill were to simply expire. The Conference Committee convenes next week on September 4, 2018. Conferees from both Houses will work to reconcile their versions of the…
This is a two part blog post. Part One covers the background of the legislative process and Part Two covers the specifics about the scenarios for farm bill programs if the 2018 Farm Bill were to simply expire. The Conference Committee convenes next week on September 4, 2018. Conferees from both Houses will work to reconcile their versions of the…
The 2018 Farm Bill legislative process is in full swing. But, with such a complicated procedure, it can challenging to follow where any bill stands. So here is your recap: Both the Senate and House Agricultural Committees created an individual 2018 Farm Bill. After a vote from the House and the Senate agriculture committees the bills were sent to the…
The Senate passed its farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (S. 3042), on Thursday, June 28th. The bill is a mixed bag for efforts to build local, resilient agricultural systems that create meaningful opportunities for diverse farmers. FBLE’s report, Diversified Agricultural Economies, makes farm bill recommendations to achieve a more just farm system by ensuring socially disadvantaged farmers…
The Senate released its draft of the 2018 Farm Bill on Friday, June 8th. This post analyzes how the Senate Farm Bill addresses FBLE’s goals and recommendations from its report, Food Access, Nutrition, and Public Health. The Senate Agriculture Committee moved the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (S. 3042) out of committee on June 13th. The Senate is voting on…