Soil Health Federal Bill Tracker Alert - Summer 2024
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
While there hasn’t been as much Farm Bill activity recently, the House and Senate Ag-FDA Appropriations bills both passed and await floor time — we’ve added these to our Federal Bill Tracker and outlined below. We’ve also continued to track Core Soil Health bills introduced since the beginning of the summer.
As always, visit the Land Core Bill Tracker to see all tracked bills, including those that have been introduced more recently.
- The Land Core Team
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Ag-Appropriations Bills Now in the Tracker
Earlier this month both the House and Senate Ag-FDA Appropriations bills passed and advanced to their respective floors. The House bill total funding was approved at $25.9 billion, a decrease of $355 million from FY24. The Senate bill was approved with a total funding amount of $27 billion, which is an $821 million increase from FY24.
The House bill includes $903 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), $1.79 billion for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), $1.67 billion for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and $1.2 billion for the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The Senate bill includes $1.87 billion for ARS, $1.01 billion for conservation programs, and has several directives related to soil health, particularly to support research and technical assistance.
To help you track this information and recent activity, we’ve added an overview, links to press releases, and detailed analysis of the House and Senate spending bills in our Federal Bill Tracker!
New Core Soil Health Bills
Below are core bills that would have an impact on soil health and resilience introduced since the beginning of summer.
H.R.8811 - America's Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Reauthorization Act of 2024
Sponsor: Rep. Wittman (R-VA-1), Bipartisan (4 co-sponsors), Referred to Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries
This bill aims to reauthorize and extend conservation programs to enhance the preservation, protection, and management of natural resources, agriculture, and wildlife habitats. It would reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, National Fish Habitat Conservation Through Partnerships Act, Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act, Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Reauthorization Act, and the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense (WILD) Act. See in tracker.
H.R.8754 - Saving Our Interconnected Lives (SOIL) Act
Sponsor: Rep. Brownley (D-CA-26), Democrat only (1 co-sponsor), Referred to Committee
This bill aims to strengthen soil health, wildlife habitat, and climate resiliency by increasing federal payments and reimbursements under USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for producers implementing conservation practices that simultaneously address soil health and wildlife habitat. This includes practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, residue management, alley cropping, contour buffer strips, wetland restoration, riparian cover, permanent vegetation, and many others. See in tracker.
H.R.8611 / S.4472 - Save Our Small (SOS) Farms Act of 2024
House Sponsor: Rep. Hayes (D-CT-5), Democrat only (15 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
Senate Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT), Democrat only (1 co-sponsor), Referred to Committee
This bill aims to improve the farm safety net and provide more federal crop insurance opportunities for small farms so they can reduce their reliance on disaster relief assistance. It would streamline the application process for the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), expand the Whole Farm Revenue Protection Program (WFRP), and direct USDA to develop a weather index-based policy based on crop and income losses. See in tracker.
H.R.8598 / S.4441 - Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act
House Sponsor: Rep. Strickland (D-WA-19), Democrat only (2 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
Senate Sponsor: Sen. Welch (D-VT), Democrat only (0 co-sponsors), Referred to Committee
This bill aims to help beginning farmers and ranchers with early financial challenges by directing the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to develop a loan pilot program that would give these producers immediate access to capital to start up their operations. See in tracker.
Farm Bill Overview
Recently, a coalition of over 500 stakeholder and beneficiary groups sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to pass a Farm Bill by the end of the year to continue support for essential programs, including groups from the agricultural, nutrition, conservation, and rural development sectors. However, despite the strong showing of support over the past month, momentum on the Farm Bill has slowed again, with no significant movement from either chamber. Unfortunately, it is currently feeling increasingly unlikely that it will pass this year.
On August 2, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their cost estimate for the House Farm Bill, stating that the bill would increase the federal budget deficit by $33 billion over 10 years. CBO’s potential savings estimate falls short of what is needed to cover commodity program provision costs, such as higher reference prices in the Price Loss Coverage Program. The funding gap could result in modifications to the legislation if House Ag leaders want it to advance to the floor.
Nevertheless, hearings are still underway in the House Agriculture Committee, where witnesses urged members to get a Farm Bill passed this year and implement a supplemental budget for disaster assistance. During the hearing, Chairman Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) indicated that he is willing to entertain an informal negotiation with the Senate Agriculture Committee if they release their full Farm Bill text.
Find more related legislative and policy updates in Land Core’s monthly newsletter!
Bill tracker alerts summarize updates to our soil health federal bill tracker. View this update as a PDF.
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