Today, the House will start voting on amendments for its final version of the 2013 Farm Bill.  If you’ve been waiting, wondering how you can make a difference, this is it!

The Senate passed its version of the 2013 Farm Bill earlier this month.  The final product shows the hard work that we – the beginning farmer movement – put into keeping pressure on our politicians.  You can read an in-depth analysis of the bill here. 

The task we have before us is to push the House of Representatives to follow suit and stand up for beginning farmers.  Yesterday the process was started with the House Rules Committee narrowing down the list of possible amendments to a short list of possibilities.  Representatives will be spending today and tomorrow working through each one, hoping to have the bill finalized by tomorrow afternoon.

We’ve taken a close look at those amendments laid out before the House and picked out the ones most important to beginning farmers.  Will you take a minute to help win those important changes to the existing draft:

• We need to close subsidy loopholes that allow mega-farms to collect unlimited payments and crowd out beginning farmers.  Instead, that money can go to farms and farmers working to improve the food system.
• And we need to improve policies to spur small business development and create jobs in rural America by strengthening existing credit, rural development, and research and extension programs that support local food efforts.

Ask your Member of Congress to support these key amendments right now!