As Farm Bill negotiations advanced, Deb Atwood, Meridian Institute Senior Fellow and Senior Advisor to AGree, released the following statement:
“We are glad to see the Farm Bill is moving forward in both chambers of Congress. We will continue to work with Congress in a bipartisan manner so that we can prioritize farmers’ voices, farm profitability, and conservation.
Chairwoman Stabenow is leading the way by outlining policies that enhance agricultural data protection and access by creating a secure data environment accessible to approved researchers. AGree has championed this effort as we know that knowledge is key to agricultural conservation adoption and improved economic benefits to producers. Farmers need and want to know how adopting new practices will impact their farm’s resilience and profitability. The draft also underscores the importance of expanding crop insurance policies that include risk-reducing practices and improving policies that cover farmers growing multiple crops in rotation.
We were also pleased that both parties have committed to increasing baseline funding for conservation programs. This commitment will be key as we work to make our farms more resilient and successful given the increase of extreme weather events and other weather changes.
As negotiations around the Farm Bill continue, the AGree Coalition is steadfast in our commitment to farmers and producers. The Coalition is advocating for the Farm Bill to establish a secure data service to collect, link, and analyze data on conservation practices, while ensuring farmer privacy. Demonstrating the impacts of conservation practices and diversified farming systems is key to build evidence of lowered financial risk of conservation and improve Farm Bill conservation program outcomes. The new Farm Bill provides a critical opportunity to advance policies that will improve economic and environmental outcomes for producers and our environment.”
