farm policy

Food insecurity is often a topic of discussion in agriculture, but often within the frame of how will the industry feed a growing population. But the sad reality is that food insecurity is a challenge right here at home, and a large percentage of the funding promulgated in the Farm Bill is dedicated to solving the complex challenge of helping farmers feed their fellow Americans.

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt is Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, an organization representing Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks and their 3,600 member hunger relief programs. Recently inducted into the Ohio Agriculture Hall of Fame, she is an advocate not only for the food insecure, but for farmers and the vital role they play in feeding all of us; she is often heard explaining, “We all have to eat.”

Earlier this week her organization hosted a convening on the topic of the Farm Bill, bringing together people from farm organizations, state and federal government, food and hunger organizations, and industry and academia.

The broad topic was how the next Farm Bill – the legislation that funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its many and diverse programs from commodities and conservation to nutrition and rural development – will shape the scope and nature of food insecurity in this country over the next 5 to 10 years. Feedstuffs broadcast editor Andy Vance moderated a panel at the event on tackling food insecurity in uncertain times, and spoke with Hamler-Fugitt about her unique perspective on the Farm Bill, and her concerns for the often tenuous coalition it takes to pass such a massive piece of legislation in a hyper-partisan environment.

This episode is sponsored by United Animal Health, a leader in animal health and nutrition. You can learn more about United Animal Health and how they are working to advance animal science worldwide by visiting their website UnitedANH.com.

Farm Bill discussions often center on crop-centric programs in the commodity title, tweaks to food and nutrition programs, or ways to enhance USDA’s conservation mission. But what do livestock producers need from the next Farm Bill?

This week in Reno, Nevada, cattlemen and beef industry participants gathered for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Summer Business Meeting. As part of the meeting’s policy focus, industry leaders turned their attention to the 2023 Farm Bill.

For a deep dive on NCBA’s Farm Bill priorities – including conservation, risk management and disaster relief programs – we’ll hear from NCBA’s Executive Director of Government Affairs Allison Rivera.

You can read more of our coverage of the 2023 Farm Bill in the pages of Feedstuffs; you can find the July issue now by visiting Feedstuffs.com and clicking on “Digital Editions.”

#071:  Lindsey Lusher-Shute, co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition and the "other half" of Real Organic Project certified Hearty Roots Farm in NY, speaks to us about her next venture - the GrownBy App, a cooperative tech solution for direct sales that give farmers full control.

Lindsey Lusher Shute is the co-founder and former Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition (2009-2019). She lives and works from Hearty Roots Farm in NY's Hudson Valley. A longtime activist and policy advocate, Lindsey was recognized as a “Champion of Change” by President Barack Obama and was named among “ 20 Food Leaders Under 40” by Food Tank, and an “American Food Hero” by Eating Well Magazine. Lindsey helped to found Farmer Generations Coop which launched the GrownBy App in 2020/

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/lindsey-lusher-shute-technology-cooperation-organic-farming-episode-seventy-one/

The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.

The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).

To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/farms

We believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.

If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000  Real Friends:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/real-organic-friends/

To read our weekly newsletter (which might just be the most forwarded newsletter on the internet!) and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/

The Real Organic Project Certification deadline for 2024 is 04/15/2024. Please visit RealOrganicProject.com/Apply to guarantee a 2024 visit and inspection!

To many in agriculture, the letters E-P-A may as well spell a four-letter word. Long a source of frustration for landowners and producers of a variety of commodities, the Environmental Protection Agency plays an important role in regulating a variety of aspects of food production and natural resource stewardship.

At this week’s Farm Futures Business Summit, hosted by our sister publication Farm Futures, Feedstuffs policy editor Jacqui Fatka shared her outlook for 2022 in terms of policy and legislation affecting agriculture. One key area of focus is on what EPA might be up to this year. 

In this episode, farm broadcaster Mike Pearson talks with Jacqui for some deeper insights into environmental policy under the Biden Administration.

If you want to view Jacqui’s full Summit presentation, you can register for the virtual summit at FarmFuturesSummit.com.

This episode is sponsored by United Animal Health, a leader in animal health and nutrition. You can learn more about United Animal Health and how they are working to advance animal science worldwide by visiting their website UnitedANH.com.

Quite a lot has happened in Washington recently, from work on the federal budget to movement on further COVID-related relief policy. How has agriculture fared in recent policy movement?

In this episode we hear from Farm Progress policy editor Jacqui Fatka. Speaking with colleague Mike Pearson at the Farm Progress Show earlier this week, Fatka explains the latest wrangling over the Waters of the U.S. rule and what it means for farmers, the latest on the infrastructure bill as it relates to agriculture, and the prospects for budget reconciliation in Congress.

This episode is sponsored by United Animal Health, a leader in animal health and nutrition. You can learn more about United Animal Health and how they are working to advance animal science worldwide by visiting their website UnitedANH.com.

Join David and Brent as they dig into the new administration's impact on farm policy, discuss what inflation rates will do over the next few years and if Indiana's farmland values will increase.

Sign up for a free 14-day trial to AEI Premium: https://aei.ag/premium/.  

Exploring the causes, impacts, and lasting effects of one of the most infamous events in American agriculture history, the 1980s farm crisis. Is today’s fretful farm economy showing signs of another crisis ahead? It’s time to learn from the past before we become history.

Escaping 1980 is sponsored by AEI Premium. Join the community for decision makers in agriculture. Free 14-day trial: https://aei.ag/premium/. Be your own guru.

Dig deeper into the 1980s. Read more from AEI (and sign up to receive free weekly insights in your inbox): https://aei.ag/.

All segments of the agriculture industry have been impacted in some way by COVID-19. From supply chain disruptions to altered consumption patterns; eating at home instead of at restaurants, for example. 

The animal protein segments have been particularly hard-hit with reduced slaughter capacity driving down prices at the farm level despite higher prices at retail.

In this episode we hear from Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Lane spoke with Feedstuffs policy editor Jacqui Fatka about the unique challenges facing the nation’s farmers, ranchers and cattle raisers, including the organization’s concerns with some of the current government stimulus programs like CFAP.

While some estimates project government assistance as high as 36% of farm income this year, to many it feels as though more can be done. Lane outlines some of the things NCBA is asking of Congress and USDA to help bring some additional relief to farm country, and discusses the challenges of asking for more in an election year… and figuring out how to pay for it all. 

He also explains NCBA's current policy and priorities related to a host of other issues, including Mandatory Price Reporting, Country of Origin Labeling, and voluntary process-verified origin labeling programs.

For more information on this and other stories, visit Feedstuffs online.
FollowFeedstuffs on Twitter @Feedstuffs, or join the conversation via Facebook.   

Kat Johnson spoke with Rudy Arredondo and Michael Marsh about agricultural policy and how they work together in our nation’s capital to advocate for farm workers and employers.

Rudy Arredondo is the President and CEO of the National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association, represents the interests of Latino small farmers and ranchers nationally in Washington, D.C., organizing and dealing with policy, legislation and regulatory issues. Michael Marsh is the President and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE). Michael, Rudy, and Kat discuss immigration and agriculture as well as the divide between rural and urban America.

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Today we dive into the heady world of industrial hemp. Hemp is no longer just for Canadian cereal companies and scratchy beige t-shirts. This low-THC strain of cannabis, think of it as the well behaved fraternal twin to marijuana, is, as of the 2018 Farm Bill, a legal crop in all 50 states. And the hemp hype is real, mostly because of CBD, a hemp extract that's popping up in everything from $8 cans of seltzer, to medicinal tinctures, and even Carl's Jr hamburgers. But if there's such huge consumer demand for hemp, and it doesn't even get you high, why was the crop criminalized in the first place? And now that it's legal, what does this mean for farmers across the country who want to start growing it? We talk with Michael "Mr. Hemp" Bowman and Ben Banks-Dobson of Hudson Hemp and Old Mud Creek Farm.

Special thanks to our podcast editor, Hannah Beal, producer, Jessica Manly, Ben Banks-Dobson, and Michael "Mr. Hemp" Bowman.

More on industrial hemp and CBD:
https://nifa.usda.gov/industrial-hemp
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrebourque/2018/12/17/how-hemp-and-the-farm-bill-may-change-life-as-you-know-it/#1bfcbe2e694c
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/us/cbd-cannabis-marijuana-hemp.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/14/magazine/cbd-cannabis-cure.html

Hudson Hemp:
http://www.hudsonhemp.com/

Michael Bowman:
https://www.agprofessional.com/article/how-serve-growing-hemp-market
https://www.agriculture.com/news/crops/what-farmers-need-to-know-about-growing-hemp
https://www.agweb.com/article/three-potential-paths-for-farming-hemp/

Show art credit: Hudson Hemp @hudsonhemp