Organic Farmers Association Farm Bill Tracker
In order to organize and make sense of the massive omnibus bill that is the Farm Bill, marker bills, (the smaller bills that legislators hope will make up the Farm Bill) are introduced leading up to the Farm Bill’s reauthorization.
Marker bills are not intended to pass as standalone bills, but rather they’re introduced to show collective interest in an idea and build momentum. Marker bills with more congressional support have a better chance of making it into the final version of the Farm Bill.
Please use this tracker to learn more about the marker bills OFA is tracking that may impact organic farming, and check back regularly for updates as Farm Bill conversations continue in D.C.
TAKE ACTION: Contact your Representative and Senators to support these bills below if they have not yet signed on.
OFA FARM BILL PRIORITY BILLS: These bills directly address programs specific to organic farmers
Agriculture Resilience Act
The Agriculture Resilience Act is a comprehensive bill intended to support farmers in addressing the climate crisis and adapting to changing weather patterns. Of special interest to organic farmers, ARA would establish equitable conservation payment limits for organic farmers, rather than the current lower payment limits allowed through the EQIP Organic Initiative.
Strengthening Organic Agriculture Research (SOAR) Act
The SOAR Act will provide continued, needed investment in organic agriculture research and market analysis to increase resilience of U.S. agriculture, create economic opportunity for producers, and improve the ecological vitality of the landscape.
Organic Science and Research Investment (OSRI) Act
The OSRI Act will provide continued, needed investment in organic agriculture research and market analysis to increase resilience of U.S. agriculture, create economic opportunity for producers, and improve the ecological vitality of the landscape.
Opportunities in Organic Act
The Opportunities in Organic Act of 2023 builds on the existing Organic Certification Cost-Share Program, and adds flexible funding to build on elements of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative, with emphasis on expanding opportunities for underserved producers.
Organic Market Development Act
The Organic Market Development Act aims to codify the USDA Organic Market Development Program and seeks to enable more domestic producers to take advantage of the economic opportunity presented by the growth of the organic market through strategic marketplace investments.
Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act
The Seed and Breeds for the future act promotes the development of regionally adapted seed varieties and animal breeds. This will help increase yields and provide farmers with plant and animal varieties that can thrive under organic growing systems in their specific regions.
Organic Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Reporting Yields Act – O DAIRY Act
The Organic Dairy Farmer Assistance Act would improve data collection for organic dairy, require USDA to design a functional safety-net program for organic dairy farmers, and provide investments in regional organic dairy infrastructure.
Organic Dairy Data Collection Act
The Organic Dairy Data Collection Act will provide improved data collection to better understand and address the challenges organic dairies face by requiring the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to collect and publish cost-of-production data for organic milk, including the costs of major organic feedstuffs, domestically produced or imported, to gather and report monthly data about the amounts that organic dairy farmers are being paid for organic milk, and to publish reports on the cost of production data by state, and regional data on the quantity of organic milk production and prices.
Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic
The Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic bill proposes a two step transparent and predictable process over a five year basis, utilizing both public and stakeholder input and consultations with the National Organic Standards Board, to prioritize and update organic standards. NOP would use current sources of data and information to guide these updates including current practices, consumer and market information, as well as environmental and ecological data.
Working with Allies to Build a Better Food System: These bills address OFA policy priorities, and will promote a more just food system that supports small and specialty farmers
Justice For Black Farmers Act
The Justice for Black Farmers Act aims to enact policies to end discrimination within the USDA, protect remaining Black farmers from losing their land, provide land grants to create a new generation of Black farmers and restore the land base that has been lost, and implement systemic reforms to help family farmers across the United States.
Farmer to Farmer Education Act
The Farmer to Farmer Education Act would advance farmer-to-farmer conservation education networks and build capacity for new ones –particularly for historically marginalized communities.
Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities Act
The Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities Act aims to help producers start and grow viable farm businesses, retain access to land, and transition land. The bill would authorize and expand USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program.
The Farm Program Integrity Act
The Farm Program Integrity Act intends to close loopholes in the various farm payment systems to ensure taxpayers are supporting only those truly “actively engaged in farming.” This bill would create a cap of $250,000 annually in total commodity support for any single farm operation and would require subsidy recipients to be working farmers that spend at least half of the year in farm operations.
Insuring Fairness for Family Farmers Act
The Insuring Fairness for Family Farmers Act aims to reform the current crop insurance policies to incentivize crop insurance agents to provide coverage to small and diversified (specialty crop) farmers by revising the way crop insurance agent commissions are calculated.
Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act
The Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act would align the definition of “beginning farmer” in the crop insurance programs with other USDA programs to extend crop insurance protections for beginning farmers to the first 10 years of farming.
Whole Farm Revenue Protection Program Improvement Act
The Whole Farm Revenue Protection Program Improvement Act aims to improve the Whole Farm Revenue Protection Program which is intended to provide crop insurance for more diversified producers.
Withstanding Extreme Agricultural Threats by Harvesting Economic Resilience (WEATHER) Act
The WEATHER Act would direct the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to research the possibility of developing an index-based insurance program that creates a multi-peril index insurance product for farmers based on weather indices correlated to agricultural income losses and pays out within 30 days in the event.
Need to know if your members of congress are sponsors of these bills? Check congress.gov and keep up with bill sponsors.