Comments to USDA on Hemp Propose Changes to Interim Rule

Docket Clerk

Marketing Order and Agreement Department

Specialty Crops Program, AMS USDA

1400 Independence Ave. SW, Stop 0237

Washington, DC 20250-0237

RE: Doc. No. AMS–SC–19–0042; SC19–990–2 IR DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 990 - Establishment of a Domestic Hemp Production Program 

January 29, 2020

To Whom it May Concern,

We the undersigned organizations representing small farmers and ranchers strongly support the long-awaited creation of a legal pathway for states, tribes and farmers and ranchers to grow hemp in the United States.  We believe Congress, in adopting the statutory changes authorizing these changes, intended to create a new opportunity to benefit the nation’s producers, including small-scale, diverse and tribal producers.  Because we share the belief that this new opportunity should benefit all farmers, we endorse the earlier comments of Hempstead Project Heart (Dec 6, 2019), and share with USDA our concerns about the following sections of the rules, and our recommendations for changes to improve the new program.

I.      HARVESTING RESOURCES FOR SMALL, MINORITY AND LIMITED RESOURCE FARMERS AND RANCHERS

In order to ensure that small, minority and limited resource farmers and ranchers have a fair and equitable opportunity to participate in the environmental and economic benefits of the industrial hemp industry, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service should devise a grant program designed to provide low cost harvesting machinery and technical assistance specifically for small farmers.  The rule should be modified to include a harvesting assistance plan that grants, finances or otherwise makes harvesting equipment available to small family farmers.

The rule should guarantee that small farmer cooperatives in each state have access to loans and grants to secure harvesting equipment to be used on a priority basis by small, minority and limited resource farmers and ranchers.   A mandated guarantee of harvesting equipment is essential for small farmers in a new budding industry because access to specialized equipment supports a hemp grower’s efforts to service and repay loans secured by real estate where hemp is grown.  This new equipment harvesting provision advances that intent and purposes of the industrial hemp statute and rule as it would promote the orderly marketing of hemp and hemp products while decreasing instances of farm foreclosures associated with the inability to harvest hemp within 15 days of testing. 

Minority farmer organizations who receive grants or low interest loans from AMS specific to harvesting hemp can orderly schedule testing and harvesting so as to ensure that cooperatives and their members comply with timing of testing and harvesting required in this rule. (See further discussion below on our recommendation to increase timing from 15 to at least 28 days between testing and harvesting).

II.     Fair and Equitable Access to Laboratory Hemp Testing for Small, Minority and Limited Resource Farmers and Ranchers

The rule expects there to be a dearth of laboratory testing assets where access to testing assets may widely vary among states and regions within states.  The undersigned organizations are concerned that the lack of testing resources within states will have a detrimental impact on small, minority and limited resource farmers and ranchers.  Therefore, the Agriculture Marketing Service must modify the rule to include provisions that ensure that historically underserved farmers and ranchers will have access to hemp testing laboratories and facilities on a priority basis.   The inclusion of this provision will ensure that hemp related farmland is utilized for its highest and best economic use while decreasing occurrences of farmland foreclosures among historically underserved and limited resource hemp producers.  

III.   USDA LOAN SERVICING UNDER 7 C.F.R. 1951-S

The rule should be modified to accommodate and harmonize the uncertain aspects of hemp cultivation, harvesting, and marketing with USDA direct and operating loan servicing.  Currently, the Farm Service Agency loan making and loan servicing functions are not aligned with the Agriculture Marketing Service’s implementation of these industrial hemp regulations.  The rule must include joint loan-servicing provisions established by FSA with input from FSA and farmer organizations.  The hemp related loan servicing provisions must take into consideration loan compliance and loan repayment difficulties connected to harvesting challenges and crop destruction requirements.  Hemp related loan-servicing provisions would prevent the FSA from placing a hemp farmer in default, acceleration and foreclosure if the hemp crop cannot be harvested due to the 15-day rule or the .3% THC rule. 

FSA loan servicing and compliance activities and enforcement mechanisms must be modified and clarified so as not to hold an FSA borrower in monetary or nonmonetary default in the event of random audits that conclude that a hemp licensee be issued corrective action plans for negligent violations beyond the control of the hemp producer / farm loan borrower. 

The hemp loan servicing rule effectively would place a stay on default, acceleration and foreclosure when the family farmer has acted in good faith, but was nevertheless unable to harvest due to lack of harvesting equipment, crop testing, or unsettled disputes with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. 

IV.   REDUCE THE RESTRICTIVE LEVEL OF THC AND DISPOSE NOT DESTROY

With the above sections acknowledging the difficulties associated with a .3% THC limitation, it must be noted that the proposed rule requires measuring the total THC level of hemp. However, as stated in the USDA’s description of marijuana “Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the primary intoxicating component of cannabis.”  This being said, it is reasonable to accept the Delta-9 THC as the target of the measurement as opposed to using the measurement of the total THC in hemp. The USDA should allow the Delta-9 THC threshold of 1% for research and development for Land-Grant universities that highlight the academic, scientific, and marketing aspects of the American hemp industry.  The average global Delta-9 THC threshold is 1%, leaving American hemp at a competitive global disadvantage to countries with a 1% threshold. A higher Delta-9 THC threshold would result in fewer non-compliant harvests and greatly reduce farmers vulnerability to weather events that impact THC levels.

Additionally, hemp is a diverse crop with thousands of uses. Modern technology has paved the way to implement many processes that will remediate non-compliant harvests and allow growers to make use of crops that exceed the THC limits. The non-compliant hemp may be processed for purposes other than consumption, such as fiber, “hempcrete”, or many other products. Such authority would create an alternative income pathway for farmers and growers and prevent the destruction and loss of an entire harvest.

V.      FAIR AND REASONABLE THC TESTING WINDOWS

The rule proposes a 15-day window before harvest to test THC compliancy levels.  While acknowledging the difficulties of this window, it must also be highlighted that this time period is extremely restrictive when considering the difficulties farmers may encounter due to unpredictable weather and unforeseen events, such as equipment malfunction.  This rule will limit the type of farmer able to grow hemp. This is a blatant regulatory barrier to small-scale farmers and discriminatory toward farmers who lack resources to access particular harvesting equipment. Harvesting hemp requires intensive labor, and many farmers will not have the resources to be able to harvest in 15 days of even the best weather conditions.

Additionally, harvesting within this window is further made difficult, and likely in many situations impossible, due to USDA’s testing regulations which require THC samples to be processed only by Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) approved testing laboratories.  Many states have as few as one DEA approved lab, and some states have none at all. It will very difficult for testing labs to process the hundreds of thousands of acres of hemp in a reasonable time frame during harvest season.  This limiting factor results in extreme delays in testing THC samples, causing farmers to miss the 15-day window for harvest and to fall into noncompliance. 

The rule must be adjusted from 15 days to 28 days, which is still a conservative amount of time, but offers moderate room for small scale farmers to harvest in a timely manner and to accommodate for unpredictable events.  This rule would likely cause the hemp industry to fail in totality, or simply discriminate against hemp farmers without the resources to farm with industrial equipment, which would constitute a failure of the USDA’s commitment to American producers.

VI.     HEMP PRODUCER PRIVACY AND ANTI-ADMINISTRATIVE SEARCH WARRANTS

The rule must be modified to include language prohibiting USDA or the Drug Enforcement Agency from executing administrative search warrants without probable cause while using the hemp production enforcement as a cover for unauthorized search warrants on land owned and operated by hemp producers.  Frequently, farmers in rural communities may have disagreements with neighboring farmers and seek revenge by reporting unfounded allegations to USDA and law enforcement agencies.  The rule must provide protections to prevent destruction of lives and farm economic opportunities in the absence of real verifiable unlawful conduct.  The rule must be amended to require that USDA or DEA hemp-related administrative search warrants are limited to hemp farming operations as defined in the farm bill and applicable regulations. 

With specific regard to subsection 990.71 of the USDA Hemp Producer Plan, subpart (2) Criminal History Report, the USDA must alter this rule’s normalization of mass surveillance of hemp growers. Requiring all USDA hemp producers to submit an FBI Identity History Summary to grow hemp in compliance with the law undermines Congressional intent to make hemp an agricultural commodity while also infringing upon the lawful privacy of growers.

VII.   USE THE FARM BILL’S DEFINITION OF HEMP

The rule allows testing protocol to be limited to the flowers of the hemp plant.  This would not be a true test of the plant’s material.  The 2018 Farm Bill defines hemp “as the plant species Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not”.  This means the entirety of the plant. However, the proposed rule limits testing to solely one part of the plant, that is, the flower.  Most of the current states’ rules and the original USDA proposed protocol includes testing all parts of the plants, including flowers, shoots and leaves.  This would present a representative sample of the entire plant.  With the THC level already set at a low number, the public is protected from any narcotic effects of the hemp plant.  Moreover, crop insurance does not protect crops destroyed or cover losses due to exceeding THC limits.  Testing the flowers only would severely restrict the hemp farmer to bring to market a viable crop and cause growers to lose a crop without any insurance protection while not being an accurate representation of the crop’s true THC profile.

VIII.   ACCOMMODATE INTERSTATE COMMERCE

It is impossible to determine the THC level of cannabis without a laboratory analysis.  This causes a huge dilemma for law enforcement across the United States and the entire supply chain of industrial hemp.  The USDA must provide shipping information as a part of the FSA’s crop report for law enforcement to verify shipments of lawfully produced hemp. Without a verification process for hemp to undergo interstate transit, the American hemp market is left extremely vulnerable, as well as those transporting the crops and products. Allowing a process for farmers, processers and shippers to create a shipping or transportation manifest and itineraries will allow for a reliable and safe system of commerce within the hemp industry. It is inexcusable and willfully ignorant that this has not yet been implemented. It is known that transporting legal hemp, seeds, or products can cause a legal or safety risk for shippers, farmers, law enforcement and others while undergoing transportation.  This nascent industry must have protocols in place in order to protect commerce.

In closing, we concur strongly with a point that Marc Grignon of Hempstead Project Heart raised in comments on December 6, 2019 for this docket: “…I want to stress the importance of non-stringent hemp regulations which create opportunities for the farmer during a time of crisis. The trade war, volatile weather, and the decline of rural communities contribute to a bleak future for farmers. Over the last year, there have been 580 Chapter 12 farm filing bankruptcies and the number continues to increase day by day. Farm income has decreased since 2013, the last year of record high profits. Even this year farm income reached $88 billion, still 29% less than 2013. As a beginning farmer I have hope to keep control of the land I grow on for my future generations, but I need hemp to make that happen. Hemp has the potential to become part of the solution to the farm crisis occurring across our country.”

We recommend the aforementioned modifications in order to assure that this 21st century `industrial hemp program provides essential opportunities to build a new generation of farmers and ranchers, with economic and ecological benefits to all this nation’s rural communities. We thank you for your attention to our input.

The undersigned,

Rural Coalition

National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association

North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project

Rural Advancement Fund of the National Sharecroppers Fund

Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project, Inc.

National Immigrant Farmers Initiative

Implementation of Equity Advances in the 2018 Farm Bill Final Comments for USDA Farm Bill Implementation Listening Session

Coalition Letter Endorsing Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

November 1, 2018

Re: Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018

Dear Senators and Representatives:

The undersigned 213 farm, food, rural, community, consumer, faith and other advocacy organizations wholeheartedly endorse the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018 (Sen. Booker S. 3404/Rep. Pocan H.R. 6800) and urge you to co-sponsor this landmark legislation.

Since the end of the recession, there has been a wave of food and agribusiness mega-mergers that have further consolidated one of the most concentrated sectors in the U.S. economy. These mergers have included farm inputs (seeds and fertilizer), agricultural commodity processors (pork packers, flour millers and more), food manufacturing and supermarkets and retailers. This hyper-consolidation has contributed to declining farm incomes, loss of choice of inputs for farmers, stagnant wages and increased layoffs for workers, higher grocery prices and fewer choices for consumers, the erosion of rural economic vitality and a less resilient food system overall.

The Booker-Pocan Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018 (S.3404/H.R. 6800) would offer a much needed strategic pause in food and agribusiness merger-mania in order to assess the impact corporate consolidation has on farmers, workers, consumers and communities and recommend improvements to antitrust enforcement.

Corporate consolidation throughout the food chain has already had substantial and growing negative economic impacts. These trends would only worsen as the corporate tax cuts spur even more mega-mergers.

Few firms dominate farm business landscape: Only a few firms control almost all the supplies farmers buy such as seeds, fertilizer and farm equipment, raising prices and reducing farmers’ choices. Recent seed and fertilizer company mergers threaten to further raise operating costs for farmers. At the same time, farmers sell into very concentrated markets where four firms control almost the entire market and can push down the prices farmers receive for their crops and livestock. For example, the top four firms control 86 percent of corn processing, 85 percent of cattle slaughter, 71 percent of pork packing and 79 percent of soybean crushing.

Independent farm income harmed by growing consolidation: Consolidation has contributed to the rising prices farmers pay for supplies and the declining prices farmers receive for their crops and livestock. Farmers now only receive about 14 cents for every dollar spent at the grocery store. Net farm income has declined by half since 2013 and now half of all farmers have negative on-farm income — which means that costs of production now exceeds farm earnings.

ATTN: Agriculture/Antitrust Leg. Staff

Corporate domination of farming through unfair contracts: The newer model of vertical integration — where companies own multiple, successive links in the food chain — coerces farmers to surrender their independence to large companies through contracts that direct how farmers run their operations. Companies can and have used these increasingly common contracts to impose unfair, deceptive or even abusive practices on farmers.

Food prices are rising faster than typical wages and families have fewer meaningful food choices:

Food prices at the supermarket have risen faster than earnings for typical workers. Since 2008, the annual increase in real prices have jumped nearly three times faster than typical earnings. At the same time, merger- mania has left fewer firms in control of more supermarket shelves. Consumers have the illusion of choice at the grocery store, with many products and varieties sold by a dwindling number of companies that can more easily raise prices.

Consolidation across the food chain is harming workers and exacerbating income inequality: There is growing consensus that economic concentration is contributing to widening economic inequality as bigger monopolistic firms fail to raise wages and benefits for their workers. Larger food and agribusiness companies can extract economic value from the food system by pushing down on wages, benefits and working conditions. Mergers often involve substantial layoffs as partnering companies shutter factories and facilities to generate cost savings to be passed onto investors.

Food and agribusiness consolidation erodes rural economic vitality: Fewer, larger food and agribusiness companies have sapped economic activity in rural areas, contributing to the declining number of independent farmers and main street businesses. These farms and small businesses are the economic engine of rural America. The loss of this local economic activity ripples across communities, eroding the stability and sustainability of religious congregations, schools, hospitals and other community institutions.

The unabated consolidation in the food and agribusiness industries has only accelerated in recent years. We urge you to co-sponsor the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018 to give America’s farmers, workers, consumers and communities a needed break from the merger-mania that has undermined economic security for so many families.

Sincerely,

ActionAid USA
Advocates for Urban Agriculture (IL)
Agriculture & Land Based Training Association (CA) Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association Alabama State Association of Cooperatives
Alaska Farmers Union
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
American Agriculture Movement
American Grassfed Association
American Raw Milk Producers Pricing Assoc. (WI) Angelic Organics Learning Center and Farm (IL) Arizona Consumers Council Foundation
Arkansas Farmers Union
Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake County Farmers' Union (OH) Berks Gas Truth (PA)
Bioregional Strategies
Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association (NC)

Black Farmers and Ranchers of New Mexico Buckeye Quality Beef Association (OH)
Bull Mountain Land Alliance (MT) California Dairy Campaign

California Farmers Union
California Institute for Rural Studies
Campaign for Contract Agriculture Reform Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment Carbon County Resource Council (MT)
Cattle Producers of Louisiana
Cattle Producers of Washington
Center for Media and Democracy's Food Rights Network
Center for Rural Affairs
Central Maryland Beekeepers Assoc. Central Montana Resource Council
Central Plains Organic Farmers Association

Church Women United in New York State Citizens for Sanity.Com, Inc. (FL)
Colorado Independent Cattle Growers Association Community Alliance for Global Justice (WA) Community Alliance with Family Farmers Community Farm Alliance (KY)

Community Food & Agriculture Coalition (MT) Community Food and Justice Coalition (CA) Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America

Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias The Cornucopia Institute
Cottage House Inc. (AL)
Cuatro Puertas (NM)

Dakota Resource Council (ND) Dakota Rural Action (SD) Dawson Resource Council (MT) DC Greens

Dr. Bronner's
Endangered Habitats League (CA)
Equal Exchange
Fair World Project (OR)
Family Farm Action
Family Farm Defenders
Farm Aid
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Farm Women United
Farms Not Factories (WI)
Farmworker Association of Florida
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund
Food & Water Watch
Food Chain Workers Alliance
Food for Maine's Future
Food Works (IL)
Franciscan Action Network
Friends of the Earth U.S.
GMO-Free Florida
The Good Food Brigade
Government Accountability Project Grassroots International
Green Gate Farms (TX)
GROW North Texas
Hanover Co-op Food Stores (NH) Hawaii Farmers Union
HEAL Food Alliance
Health Care Without Harm
Hempstead Project Heart (WI)
Hmong National Development, Inc. Idaho Organization of Resource Councils Illinois Farmers Union
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming

Indian Nations Conservation Alliance Indiana Farmers Union
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy The Institute for Rural America (IA)
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Iowa Farmers Union

Island Grown Initiative
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (MD) Kansas Cattlemen’s Association
Kansas Farmers Union
Kansas Rural Center
The Land Connection (IL)
Land Stewardship Project (MN)
Main Street Alliance
Main Street Cheese, LLC (NH)
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Mainstreet Project (MN)
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (WI)
Michigan Farmers Union
Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance
Midwest Environmental Advocates (WI)
Midwest Organic Dairy Producers Association Minnesota Farmers Union
Minnesota National Farmers Organization
Mississippi Assoc. of Cooperatives
Missouri Farmers Union
Missouri National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People
Missouri Rural Crisis Center
Missouri’s Best Beef Cooperative Montana Farmers Union
Murray County Independent Cattlemen's

Association (OK)
National Consumers League
National Family Farm Coalition
National Farmers Organization
National Farmers Union
National Hmong American Farmers, Inc.
National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association National Organic Coalition
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
National Women Involved in Farm Economics National Young Farmers Coalition
Nature Abounds
Nebraska Farmers Union
Nebraska Women Involved in Farm Economics Nevada Live Stock Association
New England Farmers Union
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
New Hampshire Right to Know GMO
New York Women Involved in Farm Economics
Next 7 (CO)

North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project

North Dakota Farmers Union
Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - CT Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - MA Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - NH Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - NJ
Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - NY Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. - VT Northeast Organic Farming Association, Interstate

Council
Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Northern Plains Resource Council (MT)
Northern Wisconsin Beef Producers Assoc. Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (MA)
Northwest Forest Worker Alliance (CA, OR & WA) Ohio Conference on Fair Trade
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
Ohio Farmers Union
Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project Oklahoma Independent Stockgrowers Association Oklahoma Stewardship Council
Open Markets Institute
Oregon Rural Action
Organic Consumers Association
Organic Farmers Association
Organic Farmers' Agency for Relationship Marketing Organic Producers Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota

(OPINS) Co-op
Organic Seed Alliance
Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association Organization for Competitive Markets
PCC Community Markets (WA)
Pesticide Action Network North America
Pesticide Free Zone (CA)
PLBA Housing Development Corporation (AL) Pollinator Stewardship Council
Powder River Basin Resource Council (WY)
Public Citizen
R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
Ranch Foods Direct (CO)
Raritan Headwaters Association (NJ)
Renewing the Countryside (MN)
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
Roots of Change (CA)
Rosebud Protective Association (MT)
Rural Advancement Foundation International - USA Rural Advancement Fund of the National Sharecroppers

Fund (SC)
Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural
Rural Development Leadership Network (NY) Rural Vermont
Save New Mexico Seeds

Small Planet Institute
Socially Responsible Agricultural Project
South Dakota Farmers Union
Southern Colorado Livestock Association
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Spokane County Cattlemen (WA)
Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network
Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville
Sustainable Food Center (TX)
Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assoc.
Toxic Free NC
Toxics Information Project
UNITE HERE!
Utah Farmers Union
Virginia Association for Biological Farming
Virginia Citizens Consumer Council
Waller County Farmers and Ranchers Cooperative (TX) Waterkeeper Alliance
Weiser River Resource Council (ID)
Western Colorado Alliance
Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) WhyHunger
Winston County Self Help Cooperative (MS)
Wisconsin Organic Marketing Alliance
Wisconsin Farmers Union

Continue The Fight For Equity In The 2018 Farm Bill Special Report to Kansas Black Farmers Meeting

October 19, 2018

The current Farm Bill, passed in 2014, expired on Sept. 30. Our most critical task now is working together to move a Better Farm Bill to final passage. Here we remind you of what we have accomplished together in this Farm Bill Season, what we need to protect, and what we still need to fight for.

Our leaders, members and allies together identified a core subset of amendments, marker bills and provisions we’ve fought for in what we hope will soon become the 2018 Farm Bill. 

We also collaborated locally, regionally, and nationally to advocate opposition to the deep cuts to SNAP contained in the May and June House versions of the Farm Bill which also slashed investments in conservation, and reduced support for equity and local and regional food systems. That bill narrowly passed, 213-211.

We worked closely with Senator Pat Roberts (R-KA) and Ranking Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), their staffs, and our other family farm supporters in the US Congress not only to ensure that the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill protected nutrition programs for the most vulnerable members of our society, but that it also advanced rather than reversed the hard-won, long-term gains we have long supported for equity in agriculture, conservation, and credit programs. The Senate’s bipartisan Farm Bill, which passed on June 28 on a vote of 86-11, included support for SNAP, conservation and local food programs, as well as the specific wins we are now working to keep in the final bill.

The two bills were assigned to a joint House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences, with action still needed when Congress returns after the election to complete a final combined bill that can secure enough votes to pass both the full House and Senate for final votes before being sent to the President for signature. 

Senators Roberts and Stabenow have created “a farm bill package that, unlike its counterpart in the House of Representatives, takes a strong bipartisan stance on ensuring food access for all communities, by retaining funding and authority for the crucial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” The Bill also increased support for the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives program and related initiative to strengthen local food systems.

As the Farm Bill Conference continues, the Senate’s bipartisan bill provides a stronger basis to advance key aspects of the legislative packages endorsed by Rural Coalition and more than 100 organizations in the recent Equity sign-on letter. Click here for more information.

It is important to acknowledge–even as Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts (KA) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (MI) admit–that this bill is the best of what could be passed at this point given stiff budget constraints and a contentious political climate. That said, the Senate bill has enough valuable features to make moving forward quickly on a final bill, which is preferable to having no bill or even a continuing resolution.

Now is the time to call on your members of Congress to complete a fair farm and food bill. In particular, thank Senators Roberts and Stabenow for their work. Urge all Senators and House members to assure the final 2018 Farm Bill includes several important equity improvements in these vital areas:

• Protects SNAP funding in the Nutrition Title in the Senate Bill and doesn’t include the very stiff and bureaucratic workfare requirements that will create hunger and deepen poverty for vulnerable Americans, including children and families, and burden States with implementation and the costs of constructing an underfunded bureaucratic infrastructure.

• Provides Fair Access for Farmers and Ranchers “heirs property” language (in Senate Sections 12623, 12624 and 12625) that will ensure that more farmers — especially African-American farmers and farmers of color — can access USDA programs that enable them to protect the soil and water; continue to operate viable farms that feed their communities; and pass farming vocation and farmland on to future generations.

• Senate Section 12301, Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO), which strengthens the historic Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program and also links it to and provides permanent funding (of $50 million annually) and permanent authority shared equally with the closely related Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program.

• That removes industrial hemp from the controlled substances list and will allow both tribes and states to establish regulatory structures within their boundaries that allow farmers and ranchers to produce a high value cash crop.

• That provides small steps forward in Credit and Dairy Policy, including equitable relief in credit to protect producers against errors made by the lender. (See joint Senate Press Release with the National Family Farm Coalition.)

• Authorizes the new LAMP program, which merges authorities and provides baseline funding for local food, rural value added and food safety programs.

• In a tight budget climate, overall conservation funding is also protected and access to conservation programs for historically underserved producers is prioritized. However, funding cuts in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Easement Program are of concern.

ALSO, LET’S NOT FORGET

There are some ugly aspects of current versions that we refuse to accept, please remind your Congress member.

• RC joins our members Alianza Nacional de Campesinas’ and Farmworker Association of Florida in opposing the language in the House bill weakening hard won pesticide protections.

• Deep SNAP cuts and weakening of the program as written in the House Bill are also unacceptable.

We further invite all Members to join our policy network and to stay informed on key actions needed to protect our wins and see the 2018 Farm Bill to final passage. (Go here)

The Rural Coalition, born of the civil rights, indigenous rights, and anti-poverty rural movements, has worked since 1978 to assure that diverse organizations from all regions, ethnic and racial groups, women and men, and youth and elders, have the opportunity to work in solidarity on the issues that affect them all. The foundation of this work is strong local, regional and national organizations that work to assure the representation and involvement of every sector of this diverse fabric of rural peoples.

We invite all to join as members or renew your membership in the Rural Coalition and to attend our 10th Annual Winter Forum and our 40th Anniversary Dinner on December 13-14 in Washington, DC. (G0 here for information).

Farmer Opportunity Training and Outreach (FOTO) Program: Background Information

The new ​Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO) Program in Section 12301​ of the Senate Bill would streamline and strengthen existing efforts to support beginning, veteran, and socially disadvantaged farmers. Through a more coordinated and efficient approach, this new consolidated program would permanently protect resources that address the critical issues socially disadvantaged, veteran, new and aspiring farmers face in accessing land, building skills, and managing risk and financial security.

This new program, as proposed by the Senate, would permanently extend two complementary programs by linking the statutory authorities for both the ​Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program and the ​Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program​. It would further engage and ensure coordination with the relevant USDA Advisory Committees to ensure continuous stakeholder input, oversight, and improvement of both programs.

Previous Achievements: Socially Disadvantaged Farmers

For nearly 3 decades, the​ Outreach and Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers (OASDVFR) Program,​ authorized in Section 2501 of the 1990 Farm Bill, has been USDA’s primary tool to help our nation’s historically underserved producers gain access to USDA credit, commodity, conservation and other programs and services. The program supports technical assistance to farmers and ranchers through the community-based organizations, tribes, and minority serving educational institutions best prepared to reach and serve them. It has helped sustain rural food systems in hundreds of very small and food insecure counties across the US, particularly concentrated in the South, Southwest and in immigrant and refugee communities.

Proven impacts:

✓ In the 4 years of the 2008 Farm Bill, when the program received about $18 million a year, the number of:

• Hispanic Farmer and Asian-American farm operators increased by 21%,

• Native American farm operators by 5%, and

• African American Farm operators by 7%.

• By the end of that farm bill, there were 28,000 additional producers from all the included groups reflected in the 2012 Census of Agriculture as compared to the 2007 Agriculture Census, reflecting an increasing need for the program for a growing sector of producers.

• Participation by diverse producers in programs such as the NRCS High-tunnel program and in the FSA micro-loan program has significantly increased.

✓ Program utilization is high, having served more than 100,000 rural constituents.

✓ Geographic reach is broad, including over 400 counties in more than 35 states, including the most persistently poor parts of our country.

✓ There is also increased need for services for veteran farmers and ranchers, added to the program in 2014, many of whom are from rural areas. According to the 2010 Census, there were 21.9 million veterans, 156,000 of whom are American Indian Veterans, 2.4 million are African American Veterans, 1.2 Million are Hispanic Veterans, and 265,000 are Asian Veterans.

Previous Achievements: Beginning Farmers

Congress created the​ Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program ​over a decade ago with the recognition that more needed to be done to ensure the stability and success of the next generation of farmers, including veterans which were formally added to the program in 2014. ​To date, BFRDP remains the only federal program that is explicitly focused on training the next generation of farmers.

While funding has remained flat since the program’s creation in 2002, demand for new farmer training resources has increased significantly – with over 40 percent more applications since the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill and the addition of veterans.

Additionally, since 2014, BFRDP has only been able to fund 22 percent of all proposals submitted, turning down two out of every three meritorious proposals recommended for funding.

Proven impacts:

✓ According to a recent evaluation of BFRDP1, in its 10-year history the program has proven instrumental in building a national infrastructure​, new models, and best practices to train and support new farmers.

✓ Since 2008, BFRDP has invested roughly $150 million in over 250 new farmer training projects across the country and has reached o​ver ​60,000 beginning farmers.

✓ BFRDP funded projects are showing real outcomes – project leaders estimate that over half of their participants are now engaged in a farming career, and that nearly three-quarters of them felt more prepared for a successful career in agriculture.

✓ BFRDP​ has also helped nonprofit and community-based organizations, along with their academic partners, to build their capacity and serve more farmers, and serve them better.

✓ Almost all projects focus on farmers in their first 5 years of farming, with a significant focus on those farmers starting out at a small-scale, and intensive programs, lasting months or even several years, designed to move aspiring farmers quickly into production.

✓ BFRDP projects focus on addressing the challenges and building the skills new farmers need to succeed. Almost all projects including training on essential farm business management skills to help new farmers succeed, and more third help new farmers access land and capital – two of the biggest barriers to farming today.

The new Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO) Program (Sec. 12301 of the Senate Bill) would:

● Merge the authorizations for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Rancher and Veteran Farmer and Rancher Program into a new Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach Program.

● Provide $50 million in mandatory funding for the combined program in fiscal year 2018 and each year thereafter, with authority for additional appropriations up to $50 million in each fiscal year through 2023.

● Increase transparency and accountability to ensure the program remains responsive and accessible to those serving our nation’s most vulnerable farming communities, by establishing an external peer review process and outcomes reporting.

● Seek continual input on program operations from constituents including from the relevant Advisory committees that sit together in the USDA Office of Advocacy and Outreach.

● Set the maximum award amount for grants made through both programs at $250,000 for a maximum of three years.

● Assure all new-entry, veteran and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have access to a seamless web of education and hands on technical assistance to access opportunities in the farming and ranching now and in the future.