This blog and other Farm Bill Law Enterprise resources have described the difference between the House and the Senate versions of the 2018 Farm Bills, to varying degrees specificity. For...
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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…
Beginning today, FBLE is releasing report cards that assess how various drafts of the next farm bill align with FBLE’s policy recommendations. The goal is to provide a snapshot of a very long and complex piece of legislation, and to highlight where specific provisions succeed or fail to advance FBLE’s shared values. Each report card is keyed to one of…
With 40 percent of our food going to waste each year, costing billions of dollars and causing tremendous ecological harm in the process, preventing food waste and ensuring wholesome food makes it to those in need is a top priority for the United States. USDA and EPA underscored the national importance of this issue when they announced the goal to halve…
Today the Senate Agriculture Committee breezed through its mark up of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 and sent the draft farm bill to the full Senate on a vote of 20-1 (Senator Chuck Grassley, R-IA, voted “no”). The committee voted through a slate of amendments to the draft text released late last week. Dozens of amendments were incorporated into…
Senate Joins Farm Bill Fray Last Friday the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry released its draft farm bill, kicking off the Senate’s effort to pass new omnibus legislation before some provisions of the current law expire in September. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“AIA”), which arrives on the heels of the House’s failure to pass its own…
From One Washington to the Other Did you ever see that episode of The Office where both Pam and Angela learn they want to name their babies Phillip, so they constantly try to one-up each other in showing why that name means more to them than it does the other? Well, that’s what D.C. is like to Washingtonians. I grew…
Editor’s Note: This post is part of our series on marker bills and the 2018 Farm Bill. You can track the farm bill’s progress through Congress here and elsewhere on this blog. Farmers face a uniquely high amount of risk. An unexpected drought, an influx of pests, or a lower than expected crop yield can all have devastating effects on…