A Recap of the 2018 Farm Bill and Its Importance

The recently passed 2018 Farm Bill is being called a “status quo” bill by advocates for more sustainable agricultural practices. Despite maintaining large, unchecked, commodity crop payouts, this bill has a few wins such as the provision of more resources for diversified farms and socially disadvantaged farmers.

As the single most important piece of agriculture, nutrition, and natural resource management legislation in the United States, the Farm Bill is a once in every five year opportunity to create change. For example, as we reported in a previous post, the Farm Bill’s Crop Insurance program (Title 11) alone touches over 300 million acres in the U.S. This makes the Farm Bill the best place to put energy to stem climate change through regenerative land management practices and rural communities. To this end, the 2023 Farm Bill will need to be nothing short of unprecedented to ensure a healthy future.

Click here to read the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s (NSAC) summary on the ups and downs of the 2018 bill. Now that it has been signed in, the next phase of appropriations and administration begins. You can learn more about the phases of the Farm Bill by visiting this post, also by NSAC.