For decades, the farm bill has been where Congress makes the big decisions that shape our food system.
This year, many of the biggest funding decisions were made through other legislation. But the farm bill still matters: It will focus less on new spending and more on the rules that determine who benefits and who gets left out. It’s an opportunity to ensure farm policy serves the public, not special interests, and to support independent farmers, healthy food, and U.S. food security.
We’ve zeroed in on seven policy priorities where these rule changes can make a real difference.
Use procurement policy to shift public food purchasing toward producers and supply chains that support public health, rural communities, and long-term economic and environmental sustainability.
Strengthen competition, transparency, and innovation across the food and agriculture system by addressing consolidation, input costs, and market abuses.
Support decentralized processing, aggregation, and distribution that strengthen farmer viability, competition, and access to healthy, locally produced food.
Expand risk management access for diversified and specialty crop producers largely excluded from the farm safety net so they can stay viable and meet growing demand.
Align conservation programs, technical assistance, and risk management tools to make it easier for farmers to transition to organic, regenerative, and soil health approaches—and to ensure public investments deliver lasting environmental, public health, and economic benefits.
Protect state authority to set and enforce food, farming, and animal welfare standards that create market opportunity for independent farmers.
Preserve accountability for pesticide-related harms by opposing proposals that grant manufacturers legal immunity and weaken protections for farmers, workers, and communities.
Restore MCOOL requirements for beef so U.S. producers can compete on a level playing field and consumers can choose to support them with clear, accurate labeling.
The next farm bill won’t be the massive package it once was—many of the biggest spending decisions were already made through last year’s budget reconciliation. But what’s left matters just as much.
These decisions will shape independent farmers’ ability to compete, communities’ access to healthy, locally grown food, and whether the system favors Big Ag or the public interest.
Read the full blog to see how the “skinny” farm bill could influence the future of farming, food, and rural communities.
