Amid delay over federal farm bill, North Bay, California agriculture stakeholders air concerns, wish lists

Stalled negotiations on the next federal farm bill have spurred concerns and swelled wish lists among North Bay and state stakeholders, with critical agriculture and food assistance programs in limbo or possibly in jeopardy amid a deadlock in Washington, D.C.

Under normal circumstances, Congress passes the farm bill every five years, paying for agricultural subsidies, crop insurance, nutrition assistance, conservation programs and more. The last version, adopted in 2018 and totaling $867.2 billion, expired Sept. 30.

A temporary, one-year extension was rolled into the funding compromise Congress passed last month to avoid a government shutdown. Negotiations on the next farm bill, however, stalled when the omnibus measure failed to make it out of both House and Senate Agriculture committees.

“It’s kinda sad. It’s never been a political instrument before now,” Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, said of the delay.

Congress has passed 18 versions of the nearly century-old legislation that provides a template for U.S. farming policy and subsidies as a multiyear law that governs an array of agriculture and food programs. In September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued emergency relief payments totaling $1.75 billion to eligible farmers and livestock producers as a stopgap measure.

The farm bill was hung up in the House Appropriations Committee, where infighting has become even more commonplace this year amid pressure from hard-line Republicans to slash discretionary spending.

A spokesman for Thompson’s office pointed to “serious headwinds as far-right Republicans are demanding significant cuts to the nutrition and agriculture safety net programs.”

At the very least, Thompson said, Congress needs to pass a farm bill, but he’s concerned about the hangups in the House. The spending debate has ensnared farm bill components including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides basic food assistance to those most in need. Hard-line Republicans have targeted it for cuts.

Thompson, seeking to speed several critical needs for his North Bay district, has crafted separate legislation to advance fiscal support for crop insurance, disaster assistance and smoke taint research. UC Davis was awarded $1.2 million in September to spearhead a study on the impact of wildfire smoke on crops, an escalating concern for North Bay growers.

The farm bill represents a unique opportunity every time it comes up for renewal to craft policy and reframe the nation’s priorities around agriculture. North Bay and California farmers as well as ag trade groups have their own wish lists well in hand.

“Our food system is critical,” said Joe Button, the vice president of sustainability and strategic impact at Straus Family Creamery and Farms across Sonoma and Marin counties.

Button would like to see more federal emphasis on supporting small family farms. The farm bill traditionally focuses on supporting large-scale commodities — corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar and dairy.

The number of dairy farms in the North Bay, including specialized organic producers, continues to dwindle amid rising costs and relatively flat wholesale prices.

“We encourage hope on the fringes to do more investment in regional food system delivery. We need to force diversification in the farm system. We get no nutritional value from all the corn and soy we grow,” Button said of the common exports. “But nothing is going to change with the way the farm bill is written now. It will continue to subsidize large, conventional agriculture. I don’t have high expectations for radical change.”

The sentiment is shared among many North Bay farming supporters, including the Agriculture Institute of Marin, which advocates for local farmers and runs farmers markets.

“The No. 1 thing we want to see in a new farm bill is a move away from large-scale farms and producers of soy and corn and to provide financial support to family farms producing food we can eat,” said CEO Andy Naja-Riese, noting that just 8% of California farms receive federal subsidies. “We need to see a shift in the farm bill.”

Naja-Riese believes more nutrition programs offering incentives for farmers to feed the needy should be included.

“In a place like America, no one should go hungry,” he said.

In Sonoma County, as of July 2022, nearly 36,000 people, or about 7% of residents, were receiving federal food assistance, at a cost of almost $9.4 million, according to Thompson’s office.

Naja-Riese also endorsed a cost-sharing program that expands markets and includes reimbursement for farms and dairies seeking to gain organic certification.

Championing innovative, environmentally-friendly farming techniques, the Organic Trade Association released its set of farm bill priorities, seeking changes to support the $63 billion U.S. organic food and fiber sector with bolstered funding and research opportunities.

California’s organic farm produce and livestock sales have topped $3.6 billion and account for nearly a third of the total U.S. value of organic production, making the industry a heavyweight in discussions about how to support further growth through the farm bill.

With much land dedicated to agriculture in the North Bay, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau has called on Congress to increase support for environmental incentive plans, income loss programs and emergency relief.

“The Farm Bill needs to be about farmers. More support funding to continue the growth and development of specialty crops is a must, notably in that, most agricultural commodities grown in California are considered specialty crops,” Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dayna Ghirardelli said, following a polling of her membership on what they’d like to see.

With its eye on California’s nation-leading $51 billion ag industry, the state Farm Bureau issued its wish list for the farm bill in February, long before it was due. Much of the request focused on programs earmarked to benefit the Golden State’s small family farms. Those farms supply half the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables, 20% of the milk and more than 400 different agricultural commodities.

“California’s 70,521 farms and ranches are remarkably productive given their average size; 70% of these farms are less than 100 acres, and 89% are less than 500 acres,” Karen Ross, the California Department of Food and Agriculture secretary, wrote in a letter with input from more than 100 stakeholders.

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. She can be reached at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com