{"id":334501,"date":"2024-06-25T17:33:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T15:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=334501"},"modified":"2024-06-25T17:33:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T15:33:03","slug":"preserving-the-farm-in-farm-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=334501","title":{"rendered":"Preserving the \u2018farm\u2019 in farm bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Gabriella Hoffman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) unveiled<\/a> his long-anticipated Farm Bill framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Farm Bill legislation was due for reauthorization last year and got a year-long extension through September 2024. It covers commodities, forestry, conservation, nutrition, and rural development. The House Agriculture Chairman Glenn (GT) Thompson unveiled<\/a> the House framework several weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the onset of this process, we have sought to draft a farm bill that reflects the needs of stakeholders. The world has changed dramatically since the 2018 bill became law, and the unprecedented challenges and economic uncertainty that farmers face now are only projected to get worse in the coming years,\u201d Boozman said<\/a> in a statement. \u201cThis is why producers have been calling on senators to put more farm<\/a>s in the farm bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Key priorities in the Senate Republican framework, which borrows largely from the House\u2019s, include<\/a> modernizing the \u201cfarm safety net,\u201d boosting rural and broadband services, expanding popular conservation programs, and \u201cempowering\u201d the next generation of farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was in Boozman\u2019s home state, Arkansas, this week to attend the 17th annual Conservation Technology Information Center<\/a>\u2018s Conservation in Action Tour. It was preceded by an informational Farming in the Flyways Workshop at Ducks Unlimited headquarters outside Memphis, Tennessee. The event gave attendees like me a glimpse into the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)\u2019s Natural Resources Conservation Service <\/a>(NRCS) programs and individual farming efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We toured three farms in northeast Arkansas that produce rice, soybeans, and corn. Rice, believe it or not, is king in the Natural State. Arkansas produces<\/a> nearly half of the U.S.\u2019s rice supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of USDA representatives from the Biden administration were present and encouraged participants to take advantage of climate initiatives contained in the $20 billion<\/a> boost to NRCS funding through the climate-heavy Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Biden entered office, NRCS has prioritized<\/a> equity<\/a> and climate goals over conservation, writing on their website: \u201cIn recent years, NRCS has taken strides to advance equity, address climate change, and support markets, which are part of USDA\u2019s broader efforts to address these priorities, using resources from the Farm Bill<\/a>, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law<\/a>, and Inflation Reduction Act<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NRCS chief <\/a>under the Trump administration was Matthew Lohr, the current Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Secretary in the Youngkin administration. Under Lohr and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue\u2019s tenure, conservation was<\/a> greatly emphasized in the previous Farm Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking to several CTIC Tour attendees \u2013 particularly farmers \u2013 I surmised they weren\u2019t very keen about the Biden administration\u2019s net-zero directives, like utility-scale solar, on highly productive farmland. The Department of Energy (DOE) reports solar is only reliable about 25% of the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis energy transition is expected to have significant impacts on the rural landscape,\u201d the American Farmland Trust cautioned<\/a> in their 2023 \u201cAdvancing Smart Solar in the Next Farm Bill<\/a>\u201d white paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFT also cited a 2021 DOE Solar Futures study<\/a> that found increasing national solar generation to 45%, up from 4%, could consume upwards of 7.4 million farmland acres by 2040 and 10.4 million acres by 2050, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The white paper added<\/a>, \u201cModeling done by American Farmland Trust (AFT), through the Farms Under Threat: 2040<\/a> analysis, projects that 83% of new solar built by 2040 could be sited on agricultural lands, with almost half located on our most productive land for producing food and crops.\u201d  The organization also warned<\/a> that \u201cdisplacing farming from productive land could put more marginal farmland in production, leading to decreased productivity, farm viability, and food security, as well as increased environmental impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting climate ahead of conservation champions like farmers and ranchers, those with a vested interest in conserving land for future generations would be a grave mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are no greater climate champions in the world than the American farmer, rancher, and forester,\u201d Chairman Thompson remarked<\/a> in a Townhall interview with me last fall. \u201cThere\u2019s data out there that shows that combined at this point\u2013what we do in America\u2013those American farmers\u2026they sequester an average of 6.1 Gigatons of carbon annually\u2014which is 10.1% more than what they emit, which means there\u2019s no better climate champion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radical environmentalists who influence the Biden administration accuse farmers and ranchers, who are ardent conservationists, of despoiling the environment. But that is not what I observed in Arkansas this past week or in Florida when I learned how cows keep America green<\/a>. Yet, they want to replace beef with unhealthy<\/a> \u201cvegan\u201d meat and lab-grown alternatives that are potentially worse<\/a> for the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An underappreciated segment of the U.S. population, farmers and ranchers, who comprise 2% of the population, feed 98% of the nation. Regulations like the SEC\u2019s climate disclosure<\/a> and Biden\u2019s Waters of the United States (WOTUS)<\/a> rules hurt these producers. Equally concerning is Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing practices and, by extension, posturing that steer investments away from agriculture to climate policies\u2013which could result in a 34%<\/a> increase in food costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farming, at its core, is conservation. The Republican Farm Bill frameworks recognize this practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared at Town Hall<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) unveiled his long-anticipated Farm Bill framework.<\/p>\n

The Farm Bill legislation was due for reauthorization last year and got a year-long extension through September 2024. It covers commodities, forestry, conservation, nutrition, and rural development. The House Agriculture Chairman Glenn (GT) Thompson unveiled the House framework several weeks ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":334503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691829383,691818820,691829384,691829382],"class_list":{"0":"post-334501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-farm-bill-legislation","9":"tag-inflation-reduction-act-ira","10":"tag-natural-resources-conservation-service-nrcs","11":"tag-senate-agriculture-committee","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/0Farmer-thumbs-up.jpg?fit=2508%2C1672&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1p1b","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":287124,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=287124","url_meta":{"origin":334501,"position":0},"title":"Farmers, ranchers, and foresters are the best conservationists (ft. 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Glenn \u201cGT\u201d Thompson)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThere are no greater climate champions in the world than the American farmer, rancher, and forester.\u201d \u2014 House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn \u201cGT\u201d Thompson From\u00a0CFACT In Episode 391 of District of Conservation, Gabriella speaks with House Agriculture Chairman Glenn \u201cGT\u201d Thompson for a conversation about his committee, 2023 Farm Bill\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Farmers\"","block_context":{"text":"Farmers","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=farmers"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-223.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-223.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-223.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-223.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-223.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":268512,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=268512","url_meta":{"origin":334501,"position":1},"title":"Greta Thunberg Gives Finger to Opponents of New EU Environmental Legislation","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Greta Thunberg was photographed at the European Parliament in Strasbourg last Wednesday smiling broadly while flipping a double-bird \u2013 apparently to the opponents of heavily contested new EU environmental legislation known as the \u2018Nature Restoration Law\u2019.","rel":"","context":"In \"climate alarmism\"","block_context":{"text":"climate alarmism","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-alarmism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02023-07-17-17_04_41-Greta-Thunberg-Gives-Finger-to-Opponents-of-EU-Nature-Restoration-Law-Word-1.jpeg?fit=1078%2C678&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02023-07-17-17_04_41-Greta-Thunberg-Gives-Finger-to-Opponents-of-EU-Nature-Restoration-Law-Word-1.jpeg?fit=1078%2C678&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02023-07-17-17_04_41-Greta-Thunberg-Gives-Finger-to-Opponents-of-EU-Nature-Restoration-Law-Word-1.jpeg?fit=1078%2C678&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02023-07-17-17_04_41-Greta-Thunberg-Gives-Finger-to-Opponents-of-EU-Nature-Restoration-Law-Word-1.jpeg?fit=1078%2C678&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02023-07-17-17_04_41-Greta-Thunberg-Gives-Finger-to-Opponents-of-EU-Nature-Restoration-Law-Word-1.jpeg?fit=1078%2C678&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":258867,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=258867","url_meta":{"origin":334501,"position":2},"title":"Climate Czar Kerry: Emissions from agriculture must be \u201cfront and center\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"24\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Farmers and ranchers who assume that their main job is to produce food to feed hungry people stand corrected. 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