OTA.COM 37 2014 2018 X OREI maintains funding at $20 million per year. X OCCSP funding more than doubles to over $40 million. X ODI maintains funding at $5 million. X NOP receives $5 million to upgrade and modernize technology systems. The funds were used to create the Organic Integrity Database, a comprehensive public online database that catalogs all organic certificate holders. X NOP is authorized to receive up to $15 million in annual funding. X Certified organic operations may exempt themselves from conventional commodity research and promotion program assessments. X Authorizes the creation of an organic commodity promotion order aka “check-off program” so that the organic sector can self-fund research and promotion activities related to the marketing of organic products. X Increases recordkeeping requirements for all certified organic operations and certifying agents to assist with investigations and enforcement actions, and requires that those records be accessible to USDA. Increases USDA’s authority to conduct investigations and establishes more stringent penalties for violations of the organic standards. X Sets a deadline for USDA to implement price elections for all organic crops, and requires them to report annually to Congress on their progress towards expanding crop insurance tools tailored to organic production. X NOP is authorized to receive up to $24 million in annual funding. X OREI more than doubles to $50 million per year and receives permanent funding. X ODI maintains funding of $5 million. X NOP receives $5 million in funding for technology upgrades to utilize blockchain and other systems, and create electronic organic import certificates to deter fraud. X OCCSP maintains funding at $40 million. X Increases authority for USDA to conduct global oversight and enforcement actions to combat fraud in organic. Requires USDA to issue new regulations requiring certain handlers and other operations that are exempt from certification—including brokers and shippers— to obtain organic certification. X Further expands access and incentives for organic and transitioning farmers in conservation programs including CRP, CSP and EQIP. Raises the payment limit for projects funded under EQIP OI from $80,000 to $140,000. to as “the Big Four” because they have an outsize influence on the negotiations and shepherding the legislation through the congressional process. Three of the big four players are new this time around. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), a member of Congress first elected in the early 1980s and the only lawmaker to have served as both the Chair of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees throughout his long career, retired in 2020. He participated in eight farm bills and helmed the committee for two of them. Congressman Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota), first elected in 1990, was the lead Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee serving both in the Chair and Ranking positions since 2005, making him a lead negotiator for three out of the five farm bills he worked on throughout his career. Peterson lost his reelection in 2020. Congressman Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Chair of the House Agriculture Committee during the 2018 Farm Bill negotiations, retired in 2020. That leaves Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) as the only remaining veteran of recent farm bill negotiations. She is currently Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas) is the Ranking Member. The new leaders of the House Agriculture Committee are David Scott (D-Georgia), who is Chair, and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pennsylvania), who is the Ranking Member. These leaders will protect their states and farm constituencies closely in the negotiations. Although organic is still a burgeoning sector in the Southeast, it is firmly established in both Pennsylvania and Michigan. Another major factor different from the last farm bill is political control in Washington. In 2018, Republicans controlled the White House, House, and Senate. Party control flipped during the 2020 elections, and currently Democrats control the White House, House, and Senate. And while farm bill negotiations will start in earnest this year, the actual farm bill won’t likely be on the table until 2023, which means the outcomes of the 2022 midterm elections this fall will be crucial to how the farm bill will play out. It is possible that the Republicans could take control of the House and Senate, setting a collision course with the Democratic President, or win back one of the chambers in Congress to seize total control of the legislative agenda from the Democrats. That being said, the farm bill has traditionally been one of the few remaining bipartisan pieces of legislation left in Washington, although it is not immune from partisan and regional fights over agriculture subsidies, spending, and the food stamp program. Lastly, writing and passing a new farm bill could be a difficult prospect with current budget constraints, setting up a scenario where the 2018 Farm Bill might just be extended temporarily rather than fully reauthorized. Both President Trump and the current administration have lavishly
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