The Farm Bill: 101

Why Does the Farm Bill Exist?

Congress passed the first Farm Bill in 1933 under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl in response to numerous crises, including:

• Widespread hunger,
• Very low prices for crops,
• Lack of infrastructure in rural parts of the country; and
• Dangerous destruction of the soil.

The first farm bill started many large programs to try to address these problems, several of which still exist in some way today. Due to the massive amount of funding, these programs have dramatically shaped our food and farm system in the last century.

In 1933, these programs included environmental restoration, hunger relief, research, and huge economic programs. These economic programs included credit and subsidy initiatives to help farmers afford to farm.

They also included programs where the government would directly buy crops to help take the risk out of farming and to stabilize the market. The crops the government purchased were generally crops that could be stored and distributed when convenient, such as corn and wheat. These crops are called “commodity crops.” 

The Farm Bill and Race

While many of these programs of the first farm bill helped provide relief to struggling farmers and people in general, it was also created within racist systems and laws, which made racial inequality worse. For example, the farm bill gave credit and funding to white farmers and excluded Black, Indigenous and farmers of color. This allowed more and more white farmers to buy land, and more and more Black, Indigenous, and farmers of color to lose land.

Multiple lawsuits have proven that the farm bill discriminated against Black and Indigenous farmers:

In the Pigford vs. Glickman case, the federal government recognized that it had discriminated against Black farmers in credit programs, disaster relief, and other ways. In total, more than $2 billion in claim settlements were awarded to Black farmers.

In the Keepseagle vs. Vilsack case, the federal government recognized that it had discriminated against Indigenous farmers in credit programs.

And even today, racist practices from the farm bill still cause a disadvantage for BIPOC farmers.

From the beginning, the United States farming system has been rooted in chattel slavery and colonization, including the harming, killing, and stealing from Black and Indigenous people for the benefit of white farmers. This has led to very few farms being owned by Black, Indigenous, and farmers of color. And that number continues to shrink.

For example, In 1920, the United States had about 1 million Black farmers; in 2017 there were just 45,000. In contrast, in 2017, 95% of all farm producers were white. To learn more how federal farming policies have caused racial harm, check out HEAL’s explainer.

What Does the Farm Bill Look Like?

The Farm Bill is a massive document. For context, the 2018 farm bill is 530 pages long, and is organized into 12 sections called “titles.”

The 2018 farm bill titles are: Commodities, Conservation, Trade, Nutrition, Credit, Rural Development, Research, Extension, and Related Matters, Forestry, Energy, Horticulture, Crop Insurance, and Miscellaneous. From the titles alone, it is clear that the farm bill reaches far beyond farming and touches many lives.

Title 1: Commodities

Payments, subsidies, and income support for non-perishable commodity crops; disaster assistance.

Title 2: Conservation (added in 1985) 

Programs to encourage and incentivize resource conservation efforts, including easements.

Title 3: Trade

Food export and import policies; international food aid.

Title 4: Nutrition

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other nutrition programs to provide food access for low-income families.

Title 5: Credit

Federal loan programs, including direct and guaranteed loans; provisions for debt relief.

Title 6: Rural Development

Rural business and community development; rural housing; rural infrastructure.

Title 7: Research, Extension, and Related Matters

Farm and food-related research, education, and extensions programs.

Title 8: Forestry

Forest-specific conservation programs.

Title 9: Energy (added in 2002) 

Biofuel and biogas transition support; renewable energy; energy-related research.

Title 10: Horticulture

Research and infrastructure for perishable specialty crops; organic certification programs; local food programs and farmers’ markets.

Title 11: Crop Insurance

Subsidies for farmers and private crop insurance companies to protect against losses in yield, revenue, or farm operations overall.

Title 12: Miscellaneous

Programs for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers; meatpacking.

What is the Process to Shape the Next Farm Bill?

The process to shape the farm bill is complicated, which makes it hard for everyday people to participate.

Nevertheless, it is important that those whose lives are affected by the farm bill have the opportunity to shape it. For this reason, HEAL is dedicated to bridging the gap between those who are affected by the farm bill, and those who make the decisions.

If you are interested in getting involved, we are happy to break it down and make it easy for you!   

There are five major stages to passing a new farm bill:

• Input: Anyone who wants to shape the farm bill (Organizers, farmers, advocates, activists, corporations, lobbyists, and others) tries to make their priorities known to members of congress. Generally, they prioritize members of congress that sit on agriculture committees of the House of Representatives and Senate. Some of the ways that people try to make their priorities known are through lobbying meetings, letters, petitions, press conferences, events, social media, media coverage, and hearings.
• Writing: The agriculture committees in the House and the Senate separately draft versions of the farm bill. After they are drafted, the House of Representatives debates and agrees upon the language for the House version of the farm bill, and the Senate debates and agrees upon language for the Senate version.
• Passing: Once the House and Senate bills have been passed, the leaders of the House and Senate come together to combine the bills into one bill. Once they develop a combined bill, the House and Senate vote on it. If both the House and Senate vote to approve the bill, the bill is sent to the White House for the President’s signature.
• Funding: While some of the farm bill’s programs are determined to be mandatory and are guaranteed to be funded, other programs are not automatically funded. These programs must be funded every year by congress through the House and Senate committees in charge of the budget. This is another opportunity for the public to shape the farm bill and push for funding to specific programs.
• Implementing: The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the government agency responsible for implementing the programs of the farm bill. Because the language outlining the programs in the farm bill is quite broad, the USDA is responsible for determining the details and rules of the programs. This is another opportunity for members of the public to shape pieces of the farm bill. 

Check Out Our Farm Bill Priorities