By Lily Hawkins, Policy Director

Budget

Last week, Congress passed a domestic policy “megabill” bill just ahead of the July 4th holiday. The bill was passed using the budget reconciliation process – a special procedure allowing for quicker passage of budget-related laws with a simple majority. This package includes tax changes, increased funding for military and border security, and some agricultural programs, while slashing safety-net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and some green tax incentives. The bill passed despite misgivings from members of both parties.

Crucially for the organic community, this bill provides funding for several “orphan programs” that were not funded in the March Continuing Resolution:

  • Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP): Funded at $8 million for seven years, matching 2018 Farm Bill levels. OFA continues to advocate for higher funding.
  • Organic Transition Initiative (OTI): Level-funded at $5 million for the next six years.
  • Organic Data Initiative (ODI): No additional funds in 2025, but a $10 million boost over the next six years, doubling 2018 allocations.

While work on a full Farm Bill continues, its future becomes more uncertain with the passage of the Republican budget package and its included Farm Bill program funding. Lawmakers continue to work on marker bills, which are not intended to pass independently but build support for policies to be included in the final Farm Bill. You can learn about marker bills OFA is supporting here.

Appropriations

Work on FY2026 appropriations continues. In late June, the House Appropriations Committee advanced their ag-FDA appropriations bill. If passed, the bill will remove DEI initiatives at USDA, reduce funding and workforces, and cut funding for conservation programs, cutting more than 4% over all from current spending levels.

The bill will go next to the full house floor for a vote.

Organic Dairy Bill Reintroduced

The Organic Dairy Data Collection Act was reintroduced for the 119th Congress in June. Sponsored by Representatives Pingree (D-ME), Weid (R-WI) and Langworthy (R-NY), the Organic Dairy Data Collection Act aims to 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.

Language from this bill was included in Farm Bill text drafted in 2024, and OFA will continue to advocate for passage of these policies.