Federal

Food and Farm Act

Source: Congress.gov · 28,289 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill reforms farm subsidy programs and crop insurance rules. It also expands conservation programs, improves nutrition assistance, supports beginning farmers and ranchers, reduces food waste, and invests in regional food systems. ##

Who It Affects

* Farmers and ranchers receiving government subsidies * Crop insurance companies and producers * Beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers * Low-income Americans using food assistance * Conservation organizations and contractors * Agricultural researchers * Livestock and poultry producers * Department of Agriculture officials ##

Key Provisions

* Changes subsidy payment rules so that individuals or entities cannot receive more than $125,000 in total agricultural payments per year, excluding disaster funding (Sec. 102) * Requires farmers on covered cropland to have approved conservation plans in place by January 1, 2028 to avoid program ineligibility (Sec. 203) * Expands crop insurance by removing liability limits on whole farm insurance options for farms growing multiple crops (Sec. 121) * Establishes a greenhouse gas reporting program by January 1, 2026 to collect data on emissions from livestock, crop production, fertilizer use and soil tilling (Sec. 251) * Provides 10-year conservation stewardship contracts with minimum annual payments of $3,000 to producers who comprehensively address environmental priorities in their region (Sec. 223) ##

What Changes

If this becomes law, farmers receiving subsidies face new payment limits. They must implement approved conservation plans on certain cropland or lose eligibility for farm programs. Beginning farmers get expanded access to conservation programs and financial incentives. Crop insurance becomes easier to access for farms with multiple crops. Federal agencies must track and report agricultural greenhouse gas emissions annually. Conservation programs prioritize water quality protection, soil health, reduced pesticide use and climate resilience. ##

Important Definitions

* **Covered cropland**: Cropland planted to a row crop (Sec. 201) * **Concentrated animal feeding operation**: Not specified in bill text * **Beginning farmer or rancher**: Referenced for definition purposes but specific definition not provided in text shown * **Stewardship threshold**: Conservation activities needed to comprehensively address a priority resource concern, measured using conservation tools and quality criteria (Sec. 221) * **Greenhouse gas**: As defined in section 211(o)(1)(G) of the Clean Air Act (Sec. 251) * **Designated priority resource concerns**: One to five priority resource concerns identified by the Secretary that must be addressed by conservation programs within a local watershed (Sec. 221) ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text for most provisions. The greenhouse gas reporting program must be established and implemented by January 1, 2026 (Sec. 251). Wetland conversion rules apply to wetlands converted after the date of enactment of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Peanut subsidy changes take effect beginning with the 2025 crop year. Conservation plan compliance is required by January 1, 2028 (Sec. 203). Regional conservation partnership amendments apply to agreements entered into on or after October 1, 2023 (Sec. 231).

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1824 To reform the safety net for farmers and ranchers, enhance soil, water, and habitat conservation, encourage beginning farmers and ranchers, strengthen nutrition for Americans, support agriculture research and innovation, reduce food waste, improve animal welfare, and invest in regional food systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 28, 2023 Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Foreign Affairs, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To reform the safety net for farmers and ranchers, enhance soil, water, and habitat conservation, encourage begin- ning farmers and ranchers, strengthen nutrition for Americans, support agriculture research and innovation, reduce food waste, improve animal welfare, and invest in regional food systems, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1824 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Food and Farm Act’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—COMMODITIES AND CROP INSURANCE Subtitle A—Cutting, Capping, and Clarifying Agriculture Subsidies Sec. 101. Repealing excessive subsidy programs for commodity crops. Sec. 102. Comprehensive cap on total agricultural subsidies an eligible entity may receive. Sec. 103. Adjusted gross income limitation. Sec. 104. Elimination of separate payment limitation on peanut subsidies. Sec. 105. Strengthening prevented planting coverage. Sec. 106. Eliminating the yield transfer loophole. Sec. 107. Ensuring planting on suitable land. Sec. 108. Report on diversity in crop insurance. Subtitle B—Expansion of Whole Farm Crop Insurance Sec. 121. Expansion of whole farm crop insurance option for farms that grow multiple crops. TITLE II—CONSERVATION Subtitle A—Strengthening Conservation Compliance Sec. 201. Definitions. Sec. 202. Covered cropland program ineligibility. Sec. 203. Exemptions. Sec. 204. Development and implementation of conservation plans and conserva- tion systems. Sec. 205. Wetland program ineligibility. Sec. 206. Delineation of wetlands; exemptions. Subtitle B—Enhancing Environmental Quality Incentives Sec. 211. Purposes. Sec. 212. Definitions. Sec. 213. Establishment and administration. Sec. 214. Evaluation of applications. Sec. 215. Environmental quality incentives program plan. Sec. 216. Duties of the secretary. Sec. 217. Limitation on payments. Subtitle C—Reforming the Conservation Stewardship Program Sec. 221. Definitions. Sec. 222. Conservation stewardship program. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1824 IH Sec. 223. Stewardship contracts. Sec. 224. Duties of the Secretary. Subtitle A—Building on the Regional Conservation Partnership Sec. 231. Improvements to the regional conservation partnership program. Subtitle B—Establishing Innovative Grants for Conservation and Loans for Structural Improvements Sec. 241. Repeal and reestablishment of EQIP conservation innovation grant program. Sec. 242. Conservation loan and loan guarantee program. Subtitle C—Ensuring Greenhouse Gas Reporting for Agriculture Sec. 251. Greenhouse gas reporting. Sec. 252. Authorization of appropriations. Subtitle D—Administration and Funding Sec. 261. Commodity credit corporation. TITLE III—FOOD ASSISTANCE Sec. 301. Elimination of domestic procurement restriction for emergency and private assistance programs under the Food for Peace Act. Sec. 302. Elimination of cap on support for eligible organizations for certain purposes. Sec. 303. Elimination of minimum level of local sales requirement under the Food for Peace Act. Sec. 304. Food for Peace Act extensions. TITLE IV—NUTRITION Subtitle A—Increasing Access to Healthy Foods Sec. 401. Expanding healthy food financing initiative. Sec. 402. Helping schools serve healthier meals. Sec. 403. Strengthening the food and agriculture service learning program. Sec. 404. Gus Schumacher nutrition incentive program. Subtitle B—Improving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Sec. 411. Continuing the farmers’ markets supplemental nutrition assistance program support grant program. Sec. 412. Expanding and increasing support for the food insecurity nutrition incentives program. Sec. 413. Closing the meal gap. Sec. 414. Food as medicine. TITLE V—FUTURE OF AMERICAN FARMERS Subtitle A—Defining Beginning Farmer or Rancher Sec. 501. Beginning farmer or rancher defined. Subtitle B—Providing Resources for Beginning, Retiring, and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1824 IH Sec. 511. Reauthorization and increased funding for outreach and assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and veteran farmers and ranchers. Sec. 512. Ensuring permanent funding for beginning farmer and rancher devel- opment program. Sec. 513. Supporting beginning farmer participation in certain conservation programs. Sec. 514. Creating a priority for participation of beginning farmers and ranch- ers in farmers’ market and local food promotion program. Sec. 515. Supporting beginning farmers and ranchers through farm service agency liaisons. Sec. 516. Facilitating succession planning through the creation of farm service agency regional planners. Sec. 517. Ensuring a vibrant agricultural sector through the creation of a land tenure commission. Subtitle C—Creating Financial Incentives to Benefit Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Sec. 521. Removing barriers to farming through an eligible farmer tax credit. Sec. 522. Ensuring farm service facility loans can serve agricultural coopera- tives. Sec. 523. Loans to cooperatives. TITLE VI—FOOD WASTE Sec. 601. Sense of congress regarding reducing food waste. Sec. 602. Establishment of office of food waste. Sec. 603. Establishment of food loss and waste reduction task force. Sec. 604. Standardizing, aggregating, and publishing food waste data. TITLE VII—RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND RELATED MATTERS Subtitle A—Investing in Sustainable Agriculture Sec. 701. Sustainable agriculture research, extension, and education programs. Sec. 702. National training program. Subtitle B—Supporting Research to Help Farmers Adapt to a Disrupted Climate Sec. 711. Competitive, special, and facilities grants. Sec. 712. Specialty crop research initiative. TITLE VIII—ANIMAL WELFARE Subtitle A—Ensuring Animal Welfare in Farming Sec. 801. Definitions for humanely raised livestock and poultry certification programs. Sec. 802. Increasing market access for humanely raised livestock and poultry certification programs. Sec. 803. Animal welfare tax incentives. Subtitle B—Reforming Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors Sec. 811. Animal welfare. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 1824 IH Sec. 812. Establishing a research and extension program for humanely raised livestock and poultry certifications. TITLE IX—REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS Subtitle A—Expanding Support for Local and Regional Food Systems Sec. 901. Sense of the Congress. Sec. 902. Expanding the food leveraging investment for network coordination (LINC) program. Sec. 903. Ensuring success of regional food projects under the business and in- dustry guaranteed loan program. Sec. 904. Increasing support for the specialty crop block grant program. Subtitle B—Enhancing Regional Food Infrastructure Sec. 911. Supporting regional food infrastructure assessment and collaborative planning. Sec. 912. Livestock, dairy, and poultry supply chain infrastructure grants and loans. Subtitle C—Expanding Accessibility of Federal Grant Programs Sec. 921. Publishing information about funded farmers’ market and local food promotion program projects. Sec. 922. Streamlining of local and regional food program application proce- dures. Subtitle D—Leveling the Playing Field for Small Farmers Sec. 931. Ensuring fair practices in agriculture. TITLE I—COMMODITIES AND 1 CROP INSURANCE 2 Subtitle A—Cutting, Capping, and 3 Clarifying Agriculture Subsidies 4 SEC. 101. REPEALING EXCESSIVE SUBSIDY PROGRAMS FOR 5 COMMODITY CROPS. 6 (a) REPEAL.—Part II of subtitle A of title I of the 7 Agriculture Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 9011 et seq.) is re- 8 pealed. 9 (b) CONTINUED APPLICATION FOR 2023 CROP 10 YEAR.—Part II of subtitle A of title I of the Agriculture 11 Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9011 et seq.), as in effect on the 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 1824 IH day before the date of the enactment of this Act, shall 1 continue to apply through the 2023 crop year with respect 2 to each covered commodity (as defined in section 1111(6) 3 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 9011(6))) on a farm. 4 SEC. 102. COMPREHENSIVE CAP ON TOTAL AGRICULTURAL 5 SUBSIDIES AN ELIGIBLE ENTITY MAY RE- 6 CEIVE. 7 Section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 8 U.S.C. 1308–3a) is amended— 9 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) 10 as subsections (f) through (i), respectively; 11 (2) in such subsections, by striking ‘‘(b) and 12 (c)’’ and ‘‘(b) or (c)’’ each place it appears and in- 13 serting ‘‘(b), (c), and (e)’’ and ‘‘(b), (c), or (e)’’, re- 14 spectively; 15 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 16 lowing new subsection (e): 17 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON TOTAL PAYMENTS.—Notwith- 18 standing any other provision of law, the total amount of 19 payments and benefits described in section 1001D(b)(2) 20 received, directly or indirectly, by a person or legal entity 21 (except a joint venture or general partnership) during a 22 crop, fiscal, or program year, as appropriate, may not ex- 23 ceed $125,000. This does not include ad-hoc disaster 24 funding.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 1824 IH (4) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘first cousin, 1 niece, nephew,’’. 2 SEC. 103. ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME LIMITATION. 3 Section 1001D(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 4 (7 U.S.C. 1308–3a(b)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$900,000’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘$400,000 unless the 75 percent of 7 the adjusted gross income is derived from the farm’’; 8 and 9 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 10 following new subparagraph: 11 ‘‘(F) A crop insurance premium subsidy 12 under section 508(e) of the Federal Crop Insur- 13 ance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(e)).’’. 14 SEC. 104. ELIMINATION OF SEPARATE PAYMENT LIMITA- 15 TION ON PEANUT SUBSIDIES. 16 Section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 17 U.S.C. 1308–3a) is amended— 18 (1) in subsection (b)— 19 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 20 ‘‘(OTHER THAN PEANUTS)’’; and 21 (B) in the text, by striking ‘‘(other than 22 for peanuts)’’; and 23 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 24 following new sentence: ‘‘Effective beginning with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 1824 IH the 2025 crop year, subsection (b), rather than this 1 subsection, shall apply to payments received as mar- 2 keting loan gains or loan deficiency payments under 3 subtitle B of title I of the Agricultural Act of 2014 4 for peanuts.’’. 5 SEC. 105. STRENGTHENING PREVENTED PLANTING COV- 6 ERAGE. 7 (a) PLANTING OF COVER CROP.—Section 8 508A(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 9 U.S.C. 1508a(c)(1)(A)(i)) is amended by inserting before 10 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, but, in that case, the pro- 11 ducer shall plant a cover crop on the same acreage for 12 the same crop year unless doing so would not constitute 13 a good farming practice, as determined by the Secretary’’. 14 (b) AREA CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR PAYMENT.— 15 Section 508A(c)(4) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 16 U.S.C. 1508a(c)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘, in the area 17 where’’ and inserting ‘‘in the same county, in an adjoining 18 county, or operating within 100 miles of the affected pro- 19 ducers, whichever area is greater,’’. 20 (c) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—Section 508A(c) of 21 the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508a) is 22 amended by adding at the end the following new para- 23 graphs: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 1824 IH ‘‘(6) SUCCESSFUL PLANTING.—In order to 1 qualify for prevented planting coverage, the land to 2 be covered must have been planted in at least one 3 of the preceding 3 crop years. 4 ‘‘(7) IRRIGATION GUIDANCE.—The Corporation 5 shall develop guidance on the efficient conservative 6 use of irrigation water when a crop is clearly lost to 7 ensure the program does not contribute to the ineffi- 8 cient use of water resources. 9 ‘‘(8) COVERAGE LEVELS.—Prevented planting 10 coverage levels shall not exceed the coverage factors 11 as determined by the Corporation.’’. 12 (d) STUDY.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 14 the United States shall conduct a study on good 15 farming practices related to cover crops. 16 (2) FINDINGS.—The Secretary shall use the 17 findings of the study required under paragraph (1) 18 to evaluate and make appropriate changes to the 19 regulations of the Department. 20 SEC. 106. ELIMINATING THE YIELD TRANSFER LOOPHOLE. 21 Section 508(g) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 22 U.S.C. 1508(g)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 23 lowing new paragraph: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 1824 IH ‘‘(6) YIELD TRANSFER PROHIBITED.—The Cor- 1 poration shall not allow a producer’s actual produc- 2 tion records from one parcel of land to be used to 3 establish actual production hi [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.