National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition: 2018 Farm Bill by the Numbers (Including Conservation Programs)

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (“NSAC”) issued a 2018 report addressing the recently enacted 2018 Farm Bill titled:

2018 Farm Bill by the Numbers (“Report”)

The Report includes information about the various conservation programs.

The NSAC describes itself as an alliance of grassroots organizations that advocate for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities.

Key figures provided in the Report include:

• Projected 10 year cost of the Farm Bill in billions - $867.2 billion
• Big Four titles of the 12 title Farm Bill
  • Title I: Commodity Programs
  • Title XI: Crop Insurance Subsidies
  • Title II: Conservation Programs
  • Title IV: Nutrition
• Conservation Title is stated to have taken a “$6 billion hit to overall funding in the 2014 Farm Bill” (Funding levels in the new bill retained that $6 billion cut did not either increase or decrease total funding from that new lower baseline.)

Also addressed in the Report are programs such as the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and related programs. The Report notes in part:

Conservation Title spending remained level in the Farm Bill on a net basis. Although the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and other conservation advocates had pushed for increased funding, flat funding was at least a better outcome than cuts – as we saw to the tune of $4 billion in the 2014 Farm Bill (or $6 billion when accounting for automatic sequestration cuts). However, in order to increase spending on conservation easements (e.g., wetland restoration easements and farmland protection easements), provide new permanent funding for small watershed dam rehabilitation, and fund a variety of small programs (e.g., feral swine control), the bill significantly reduced funding for working lands conservation.

Various charts are provided in the Report including one addressing:

• Biobased Market Program
• Biorefinery Assistance
• Advanced Biofuels

Non-Big Four titles with mandatory funding are addressed under categories including:

• Trade
• Research
• Energy
• Horticulture
• Miscellaneous

A copy of the Report can be found here.