The U.S. House Agriculture Committee on April 12 proposed the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, a bill that Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway says provides certainty and helps producers manage the enormous risks that are inherent in agriculture.
Ten highlights of the proposed farm bill, according to committee members, are:
1. Animal health
The 2018 Farm Bill establishes a new National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, designed to protect the health of the nation’s livestock sector. The bill also establishes a new vaccine bank that will be exclusive to the U.S. The vaccine bank has a priority for stockpiling foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine, and provides for the enhancement of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN).
2. Trade
The farm bill is designed to provide a strengthened safety net. It authorizes and restores funds for vital tools for trade promotion and market development. It also maintains long-standing legal authority for the secretary of agriculture to provide assistance to farmers and ranchers affected by unfair foreign trading practices.
3. Regulatory reform
The bill is designed to streamline and reduce regulatory burdens. One example is reforms to the Endangered Species Act consultation process regarding pesticide registration activities to ensure agricultural producers have access to safe and efficient crop protection tools.
4. Specialty and organic crops
The farm bill restores funding for Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) under the new International Market Development program. It also seeks to expand and improve crop insurance policies for specialty crops. The bill also increases funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and provides resources for fighting fraudulent imports of organic products coming into the U.S.
5. Farm policy
The bill works to address the 5-year, 52 percent decline in the farm economy by providing certainty that an extension of current policy cannot provide. The bill reauthorizes and strengthens the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) options through 2023.
6. Nutrition
Many modifications have been made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Notably, existing work requirements are strengthened, streamlined and paired with a variety of options to increase opportunities for SNAP recipients.
7. Rural development
The bill authorizes substantial annual appropriations for rural broadband and requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish forward-looking broadband standards. The bill also strengthens rural development initiatives to promote jobs and economic activity in rural areas where employment is suffering due to a declining farm economy.
8. Beginning farmers and ranchers
The bill is designed to help beginning producers by establishing a scholarship program at land grant universities designed to help students interested in careers in agriculture.
9. Conservation
The bill is designed to retain and fold the best features of the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQUIP).
10. Crop insurance
The farm bill protects crop insurance by making some improvements, but not fixing what is not believed to be broken.
