Soil Health Federal Bill Tracker Alert - Spring 2024
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The last few months have seen a flurry of activity, as the House Agriculture Committee released their full Farm Bill text, and the Senate Agriculture Majority and Minority leaders both released summaries of their Farm Bill proposals.
We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes tracking bills that were included in the House Farm Bill, as well as notable policies currently in the Senate’s draft Farm Bill proposal.
We’ve also added some new features in our Bill Tracker to help you stay on top of it all. We’ve got more information below, along with a selection of Core Soil Health bills introduced since the start of the new year.
As always, visit the Land Core Bill Tracker to see all tracked soil health bills, including those that have been introduced more recently.
- The Land Core Team
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New Bill Tracker Features!
With all the Farm Bill activity the past couple of months, we have added a few new features to help you track legislation.
We’ve added a “Farm Bill Status” section that appears below the summary of any marker bills that have been included in any full version of the Farm Bill (for now, the House bill). This section includes brief analysis, including if we know if the bill was included either partially or in full.
“Farm Bill Status” now indicates if a marker bill has been included in a version of a Farm Bill (e.g. in House Ag Committee text, or eventually, if it’s included in the final Farm Bill bill that’s passed into law).
As always, you can sort bills by various issue areas, but now you can also sort bills by “Farm Bill” for a quick way to scan for bills included in the Farm Bill. Additionally, we have added “Specialty Crops,” given the increase in related legislation in recent months.
Select “Specialty Crops” or “Farm Bill” under Issue Areas in our Federal Bill Tracker to refine your search for relevant legislation.
New Core Soil Health Bills
Below are a selection of core bills introduced since the beginning of the year.
H.R.8270 - CRP Modernization Act
Sponsor: Rep. Finstad (R-MN-1), Republican only (0 co-sponsors), Approved by Committee, and included in H.R.8467 (House Farm Bill)
This bill adds guidance for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollment by directing USDA to use science-based soil quality metrics to target more vulnerable land and disincentivize enrollment of prime farmland. It would require USDA to utilize the land capability classification system based on soil quality to approve acreage rental rate, and also establish a decreased rate equaling 85% of the initial sign-up rate for landowners who choose to reenroll in a new CRP contract. See in tracker.
H.R.8210 / S.4219 - Future Farmers and Ranchers of Tomorrow Act
House Sponsor: Rep. Lee (D-PA-12), Democrat only (0 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
Senate Sponsor: Sen. Welch (D-VT), Bipartisan (2 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
This bill would increase access to USDA programs like FSA loans for young and beginning farmers. It would revise the definition of "qualified beginning farmer or rancher" to allow non-related beginning producers in joint entities to be eligible for such loans so they have better access to tools and resources. See in tracker.
H.R.8179 - Winter Oilseed Study Act of 2024
Sponsor: Rep. Kustoff (R-TN-8), Republican only (2 co-sponsors), Approved by Committee, and included in H.R.8467 (House Farm Bill)
This bill would direct the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to conduct a study to investigate gaps in crop insurance coverage for double-crop grown winter oilseeds in order to help boost production of oilseed crops that provide crop rotation benefits and renewable fuel source options. See in tracker.
S.4168 - Specialty Crops Security Act
Sponsor: Sen. Butler (D-CA), Bipartisan (9 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
This bill would increase the Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program authorization from $85 to $100 million per year and expand opportunities, research, and resources for specialty crop producers. It would also provide state departments of agriculture with greater clarity and flexibility to work with farmers on priorities for their specific state and food system needs. See in tracker.
H.R.7850 - Eliminating Access Barriers to Conservation Act
Sponsor: Rep. Tokuda (D-HI-2), Bipartisan (3 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
This bill aims to increase the use of voluntary conservation practices under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for producers living in high-cost living areas. It would grant USDA the authority to eliminate payment caps for farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners in areas such as Hawaiʻi, Alaska, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, which experience high costs of goods. See in tracker.
S.3982 - Expanding Access To (EAT) Local Foods Act
Sponsor: Sen. Reed (D-RI), Bipartisan (14 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
This bill would promote economic opportunities for producers by creating a permanent grant program for state and tribal governments to procure local foods for distribution to nearby hunger relief programs. It would use government procurement and purchasing power to increase access to locally-sourced, fresh, healthy, and nutritious food in underserved communities and help family farmers, fishermen, and local food producers grow their markets. See in tracker.
H.R.7076 - Innovative Practices for Soil Health Act
Sponsor: Rep. Beyer Jr. (D-VA-8), Bipartisan (2 co-sponsors), Approved by Committee, and included in H.R.8467 (House Farm Bill)
This bill aims to promote soil health practices on farms and support farmers in the adoption of these practices. It would primarily focus on perennial systems and agroforestry to improve plant diversity. The bill also aims to improve technical assistance, and would designate four national and regional agroforestry centers. See in tracker.
S.3623 - Research for Healthy Soils Act
Sponsor: Sen. Merkley (D-OR), Democrat only (4 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
This bill would authorize USDA to establish competitive grants to support research and extension activities to better understand microplastics in biosolids and their impacts on soil health, crops, public health, and the environment. See in tracker.
Farm Bill Overview
House & Senate Overviews
Over the past couple of months, The Senate Agriculture Committee leadership released a summary of their proposed Farm Bill text, titled the “Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act.” The House Agriculture Committee released their full Farm Bill text, titled the “Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024.” The committee also held a markup on May 23, which lasted over 13 hours. Check out our April and May newsletters for overviews on both the House and Senate proposals, what the chairs of the Ag Committees are saying, and more.
Previously Mentioned Soil Health Policies Included in the House Bill & Senate Majority Framework:
We are pleased to highlight the following soil health provisions that have been included (at least to some degree) in the House and Senate.
House:
Title II- Conservation
Reallocates all unobligated Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) conservation program dollars into the Farm Bill Conservation Title (note: the House bill removes the IRA’s climate guardrails)
Streamline the Technical Service Provider (TSP) program and improves farmer access to conservation technical assistance (H.R. 3036)
Requires USDA to create a process for public participation in updating conservation practice standards and make more frequent updates, beginning with one year after enactment and every subsequent 5 years (H.R. 6877)
Authorizes a matching grant program for States and eligible Indian Tribes to improve soil health on agricultural lands through the implementation of State and Tribal soil health programs (H.R. 1840)
Title VII - Research, Extension, and Related Matters
Increases the mandatory funding level for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative to $175 million per year (H.R. 5199)
Maintains mandatory funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative at $50 million per year.
Maintains mandatory funding for the Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO) program at $50 million per year.
Redefines the High-Priority Research and Extension Initiative to include the Soil Health Research Initiative (H.R. 6811) and Rangeland Research Initiative.
Title X - Horticulture, Marketing, and Regulatory Reform
Provides additional funding for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and directs program administrators to consult with specialty crop producers when setting priorities for the program (H.R. 4838)
Maintains support for organic production through the National Organic Program, Organic Production and Market Data Initiative, and National Organic Certification Cost-Share program
Title XI- Crop Insurance
Expands premium discounts for beginning and veteran farmers (H.R. 3904)
Directs research and development of new policies for and more engagement with specialty crop producers.
Enhances the development process for privately submitted insurance policies and mandates routine reviews for actuarial soundness
Senate Majority Framework Highlights:
Title II- Conservation
Sec. 2306: Doubles the funding for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials from $25 million to $50 million for each fiscal year and directs that 50% of the funding be used for Soil Health Demonstration Trials (and other historic investments in NRCS conservation programs, prioritizing “climate-smart” soil-building practices)
Sec. 2502: Major improvements to the delivery of technical assistance, including farmer-to-farmer networks (S.2614); streamlining the process of NRCS conservation practice standards (S.2603); and increasing capacity of third-party service providers (S.1400)
Sec. 12516. Develops a standardized methodology to directly measure soil carbon consistently over time for research and conservation purposes (S.2241)
Title XI- Crop Insurance
Sec. 11103: In crop insurance, offer additional performance-based discounts for practices that can be demonstrated to reduce risk, including cover crops and crop rotations
Sec. 11204): Directs research and development on a policy to insure crops on fields that regularly utilize cover crops (based on the Cover Cover Flexibility Act (S.1458))
Sec. 11207: Provides that producers who follow conservation practices and enhancements that are approved by the Natural Resources Conservation Service or an agricultural expert as determined by the Secretary will not be disqualified from crop insurance eligibility for doing so.
Sec. 11208: Establishes federal matching of state cover crop payments made through a partnership with the Federal crop insurance program at up to $5 per acre (S.1690)
Sec. 11208: Allows USDA to provide similar matching for other conservation practices that are offered by states and have a likelihood of improving long-term soil fertility or reducing indemnities through improvements such as better water-holding capacity or reducing prevented planting.
Sec. 11502: Requires the FCIC to more regularly review the methodologies employed for rating plans of insurance, and to ensure its rating methodology is regionally robust and appropriately models and weights changes in risk from crop genetics, increasing frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change, and other factors known to be changing farm risks.
Bill tracker alerts summarize updates to our soil health federal bill tracker. View this update as a PDF.
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