Young farmers taking a stand against hunger
Last month we heard that the House was passing a farm bill that didn’t include a nutrition title – effectively leaving the millions of people who depend on food assistance in their times of need out in the cold. And now, as reported here yesterday, House leaders proposed a separate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) […]
Farm Bill policy update – One step forward, one step back
It feels like we’re accelerating toward September 30th, the expiration of the current farm bill extension! That date has always been on the long-term horizon, but until recently there’d been hope of real headway on creating a full five-year bill to replace these short-term solutions. Congress is back in home-districts for the month of August, […]
Farmers fight back to protect SNAP – take action now!
Last week, for the first time in 40 years, the House of Representatives passed a farm bill without the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (also called SNAP or food stamps). This was an unprecedented move, and came despite the fact that the Senate had already passed a bill that included the nutrition title. Although nutrition programs […]
After Farm Bill flop, Congress follows up with a split-bill fiasco
Late last week, the House of Representatives took up the Farm Bill again, after having failed to pass a bill last month. This time, House leaders decided to take an unusual path and split the bill up, passing only the section on farm subsidies and related programs. The part left out covered the Supplemental Nutrition […]
What's going on with the Farm Bill?
Has farm bill reporting has been stirring up a sense of déjà vu? The bill was set to expire last year, the Senate passes a version but the House fails to do the same. A lot of accusations from both sides drag on until an extension is needed. Then we saw the same exact thing […]
Breaking Farm Bill News – Bill Fails in the House
This afternoon the House of Representatives failed to pass a farm bill. After lengthy debates over the past few days and with thousands upon thousands of farmers and food advocates weighing in, the bill was shot down by a vote of 195-234. Several contentious amendments in the final hours, including a major change to SNAP […]
Congress Farm Bill Debate – UPDATE!
First, thanks to the hundreds of young farmers (and supporters!) who have taken action so far today! We’ve received some updates on the House’s progress since we broke the Farm Bill news last night: The House rules committee finally released their list of 103 amendments that they consider “worthy” of being brought to the House […]
Take Action: Tell your representative to stand with beginning farmers
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 […]
Microloan amendment receives bipartisan support in the Senate
We are thrilled to announce a small victory on the Farm Bill front! This week the FSA Microloan Authorization amendment to the Farm Bill received bipartisan support, as Senators Casey (D-PA), Harkin (D-IA) and Johanns (R-NE) all put themselves as official co-sponsors of the bill. The Microloan amendment strengthens the Farm Service Agency’s microloan program […]
Farm Bill Update – the Committee Drafts are in
Last week we told you that the Senate and House Agriculture Committees were having their respective committee markup sessions, where the committees wrote a basic draft of the Farm Bill. Here’s a quick recap on the process: the Chairs and Ranking Members of each committee putting together an initial draft and presenting it to the […]