Farming can be an isolating profession.

Even though we share many of the same challenges—like extreme weather events damaging our fields, making it harder for us to feed our communities—it can often feel like we’re facing them on our own.

So when I learned through my work with National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) about plans to organize a national “farmer climate action,” I knew that I had to be involved.

I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to stand alongside my fellow farmers and say with a united voice:

“Climate change is real, it’s impacting our farms, and we need help.”

Since late last summer, organizers from across the country have been applying for permits, raising money, coordinating transportation, and recruiting farmers to bring the Farmers for Climate Action: Rally for Resilience to life in Washington D.C. this spring.

The policy asks of this movement are anchored by three foundational principles:

• Farmer-Led Climate Solutions: Value and support the expertise of farmers whose long-developed, holistic, sustainable systems address climate concerns and many related environmental challenges
• Racial Justice: Prioritize the expertise and needs of Black farmers, Indigenous farmers, and farmers of color in the Farm Bill reauthorization process and the resultant policies
• Communities, Not Corporations: Ensure that land, products, and benefits of agriculture will remain under or return to the control of those with knowledge and skill in managing and developing sustainable systems, to benefit them and their communities

The rally on March 7 set out to make Congress listen to the voices of those who are most acutely impacted by climate change. 

It featured a truly inspirational lineup of speakers who shared their stories of resilience in the face of hardship, displacement, and oppression. They painted a picture of a future in which farmers are celebrated not just for our output, but for our ecologically sound practices and for the communities we nurture along the way. They detailed a path forward that elevates the solutions of small-scale, diversified, and regenerative farms—solutions that have millennia of evidence to support their efficacy.

Pasa’s staff and community of farmers and food system changemakers showed up in force.

Fortified by a generous donation of Painterland Sisters yogurt, we cheered at Freedom Plaza, sang along to John Mellencamp, and marched to the Capitol building, passing by USDA and Congressional office buildings en route. Our chants of “What do we want? Climate Action! When do we want it? Now!” rang through the streets.

After the excitement of the march and rally, we spent the next day on Capitol Hill sharing our Farm Bill goals with our elected officials.

I was deeply appreciative of the time Pasa’s delegation of farmers spent in these meetings and the candor with which they shared their stories.

I had the privilege of attending meetings with San Sankofa of Herbal Affirmations, whose work through Pasa’s Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship at Katydid Hill and through The Seed Farm incubator has helped him launch his own farm business. I got to sit beside Russ Wilson of Wilson Land & Cattle and Gary Bloss of Josie Porter Farm as they educated their representatives on the power of healthy soils. I listened to Sabine Carey describe how her Centre Markets initiative is building a resilient local supply chain in Centre County and supporting the bottom line of over two dozen farm businesses in the process. And I witnessed Emma Jagoz of Moon Valley Farm share the hurdles she faced in working with the USDA, while also acknowledging the relative ease of her journey compared to her BIPOC peers.

What I witnessed in D.C. this spring filled me with hope. 

When farmers take the time to share our personal challenges, they can no longer be dismissed as isolated incidents or anomalies. They must be acknowledged as products of systems in need of significant reform. 

When we share our stories, we’re no longer in it alone. Our individual struggles and aspirations become a collective movement for change.

What can you do to keep this movement going?

• Find your voice. Join Lindsey and local organizers from the National Young Farmers Coalition at our upcoming Farmer Storytelling for Policy Change workshop at the RE Farm Cafe at Windswept Farm in State College. (Free—includes a farm tour, complimentary snacks, and farmer networking.)
  
• Share your story. Do you have experience working with USDA agencies, like Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), or Rural Development? If so, your stories could help other farmers navigate these federal programs and tap into new funding streams! Consider adding your story to fundedbyFarmBill.org to demonstrate the value of these USDA services. Email me at lindsey@pasafarming.org to learn more.
  
• Learn more about the Farm Bill. Join us (virtually) for Farm Bill 101, where we’ll discuss how marker bills help rally support for the issues you care about.
  
• Tell Congress to take action. Last summer, we shared a list of “Four Key Sustainable Agriculture Policy Needs” to help you complete the House Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill feedback form. Since then, the Senate has launched a feedback form of its own, so make sure to complete that one, too!
  
• Show your support for the Agriculture Resilience Act, one of the pieces of legislation we hope will get incorporated into the final Farm Bill.

The post A United Voice for Climate Action appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Tell Congress what you want to see in the 2023 Farm Bill

The federal Farm Bill is reauthorized by Congress roughly once every five years. It has an enormous impact on farmers’ livelihoods and how the U.S. food system works. Adding your voice to the 2023 Farm Bill conversation is one of the most important ways you can advance healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems.

The U.S. House Agriculture Committee is gathering feedback about how the current 2018 Farm Bill is (or isn’t) working. Tell Congress how the 2023 Farm Bill can support a more equitable and sustainable future.

Be sure to check the “Title II, Conservation” box!

4 key sustainable agriculture policy needs

Not familiar with the Farm Bill? No sweat! We put together a list of four key sustainable agriculture policy needs to help guide your comments to Congress. You can simply share the following messages, or you can use them as inspiration to craft your own message.

#1: Farms engaged in conservation practices are better able to withstand the pressures of a changing climate.

Soils with high levels of organic matter can mitigate both flooding and drought on farms. The benefits of healthy soils also extend beyond the edges of farmers’ fields. Take heavy rainfall as an example: Pennsylvania is the second most flood-prone state in the nation, but healthy soils better absorb water and can increase our capacity to withstand extreme weather.

Policy ask: Prioritize and increase funding for programs that support soil health.

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and many other programs incentivize soil health practices like reducing tillage and intensive cover cropping. With increased training for USDA employees, these programs could do even more to help farmers move beyond isolated practices and implement whole farm conservation plans. This type of support is especially critical for small, mid-sized, diversified, and historically underserved farms.

#2: Conservation and farm business success can go hand in hand, but farmers need options.

There is a diverse array of climate-smart practices that support the long-term financial viability of a farm business, and have the potential to reduce costs and generate new revenue streams. 

Policy ask: Expand the scope of government-funded conservation to embrace the growing interest in agroforestry, dual-use solar, and grazing. 

The surge of farmer interest in agroforestry practices—like alley cropping, silvopasture, riparian buffers, and forest farming—should be met with a proportionate increase in support. These practices have huge potential to build soil health and climate resilience, while also diversifying farm revenue. Income-producing buffer plantings of fruit or nut crops, for instance, can intercept agricultural runoff if planted along streams. These win-win projects add income streams for farmers and also protect water quality. A Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) income-generating riparian buffer program was approved in the 2018 Farm Bill, and USDA needs to implement this program as soon as possible.

Many farmers have also expressed an interest in solar energy, but most want solar options to be compatible with ongoing farming—and not to displace existing farmland. The Farm Bill’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) should provide support specifically to farmers who integrate dual-use solar (e.g. panels that allow for livestock grazing and cultivating crops under and around panels) into their farming practices. This revenue stream can be a lifeline for many farms, especially those with marginal lands, and can help mitigate catastrophic droughts and floods driven in part by a changing climate.  

#3: USDA needs to do more to support beginning farmers, farmers of color, and other historically underserved farmers.

Widespread adoption of conservation practices is imperative, but barriers to land access and to government programs are preventing farmers from implementing more of these practices.

Policy ask: Several administrative improvements would help equitably increase access to and participation in Farm Bill programs. 

Reducing or eliminating cost-share requirements in CSP, EQIP and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) for eligible low-income farmers would allow for more widespread adoption of conservation practices. Proactive outreach by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), including publishing information in languages other than English, would help to increase the number of beginning farmers and farmers of color who enroll in these programs.

#4: We need more help. 

Even for farms actively engaged in conservation, implementation of new practices is limited by time, expense, and know-how.

Policy ask: Most farmers looking to try new conservation practices say technical assistance is what they need most. 

Cut-backs by land grant university extension programs have exacerbated the shortage of technical support for farmers in recent years. More Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funding for technical assistance and conservation planning, either through USDA agents or through cooperative agreements, coupled with more streamlined application processes, can help fill this gap. Farmers want to be responsible stewards, but do not have the time, money, or capacity to do this work alone.

Submit your comments to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on what you’d like to see in the 2023 Farm Bill using the key messages above—or craft your own message. We encourage you to share your personal stories and experiences!

The post Take action: Add your voice to the 2023 Farm Bill conversation appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

The Inflation Reduction Act is a huge win for sustainable agriculture—and there is more work to do.

On Tuesday, August 16, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. While it may not have lived up to the original, more sweeping climate change mitigation aspirations of the now defunct Build Back Better Act, the Inflation Reduction Act is still an historic piece of legislation and ultimately fantastic news for sustainable farmers. It is the single largest federal investment in climate-smart agriculture to date.

The Inflation Reduction Act delivers $40 billion for advancing regenerative farming practices, such as planting cover crops, reducing tillage, pasturing livestock, and agroforestry. This includes $20 billion in supplemental funding for existing popular conservation programs including the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and farmland easement programs.

Many farmers in Pennsylvania have been frustrated by the backlogs and waits involved in enrolling in these conservation programs—to date, just 20% of EQIP and 27% of CSP applications from farmers in Pennsylvania get funded. The Inflation Reduction Act will significantly expand these existing programs to to support more eligible farmers. 

Like any bill that gets signed into law, some of the details are not yet finalized.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes more than $5 billion for providing financial assistance to farmers who faced discrimination prior to 2021, and to the USDA to pay down loans held by farmers who face financial distress. Neither “discrimination” nor “distress” are defined in the law, and will have to be. These measures were intended to override lawsuits and legal hurdles that froze an earlier attempt by the American Rescue Plan to award $4 billion in relief to farmers of color. 

It will remain to be seen whether the Inflation Reduction Act will live up to the American Rescue Plan’s attempt at guaranteed support for Black farmers and other farmers of color, who have time and again suffered from broken government promises to rectify ongoing effects of historical discrimination. We can all advocate for ensuring this funding reaches its intended recipients through appeals to our Congressional representatives.   

There is more work to do. The 2023 Farm Bill is our next big chance to make meaningful progress.

While the Inflation Reduction Act provides vital funding for combating climate impacts and natural resource degradation through sustainable farming practices, there is more work to do to ensure that these funds are equitably distributed among farmers—including farmers of color as well as new and beginning farmers. Fortunately, much of this work can be done through the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill. (Learn more about Farm Bill programs here.)

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, farmers and farming organizations have real momentum to bolster the next Farm Bill’s climate, conservation, and social and racial equity programs to complement the Inflation Reduction Act’s impacts.

Pasa is a member of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and we are working in collaboration with sustainable farming organizations across the country to advocate for a Farm Bill that benefits sustainable farms of all scales. Over the next year, we’ll be regularly updating you about and asking you to take action to support our efforts.

Take action.

In fact, there’s something all farmers and sustainable agriculture advocates can do right now to tell Congress what you hope to see in the next federal Farm Bill.

The U.S. House Agriculture Committee is gathering feedback about how the current 2018 Farm Bill is—or isn’t—working. Let them know how the 2023 Farm Bill can support a more equitable and sustainable future. (Be sure to check the “Title II, Conservation” box!)

If you’re not familiar with the Farm Bill and its components, don’t worry—we’ve put together a list of four key sustainable agriculture policy needs. You can simply share these messages when you submit your comments to the House Agriculture Committee, or you can use them as inspiration to craft your own message.

Remember: Adding your voice to the 2023 Farm Bill conversation is one of the most important ways you can advance healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems.

The post Inflation Reduction Act invests $40 billion in climate-smart agriculture appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

The month of June roared in this year with temperatures in the 90s, a sure sign of summer but also a warning sign. High heat and humidity can create dangerous conditions for farmers, livestock, and crops. A recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that outdoor workers, and particularly farmworkers, are 20 times more likely to die of heat-related illnesses than other workers. 

To consider what can be done to mitigate and reverse the effects of heat stress, Pasa held an online listening session last fall. During the session, two farm managers operating within different settings—one on an urban vegetable farm and orchard, and the other on a rural vegetable farm—shared what they’ve been experiencing as far as heat impacts on their work crews, and how they’re managing those. We also heard from a professional consultant who offered guidelines for preventing illness and death as a result of extreme heat. As we head into hotter days, here’s is some of the advice they offered. You can listen to the full recording of the listening session here.

Educate yourself and, if you’re a farm owner or manager, your workers.

Elena Velez, a consultant who advises farm owners, managers, and workers in California, takes a very practical approach to heat awareness and worker safety. She shares with workers medical information on heat stress and stroke, warning signs, and human physiology. She advises farmers to take basic precautions like wearing cotton clothing instead of synthetics, hydrating regularly, taking breaks based on outside temperature and conditions, and learning the signs of heat stress. The table below summarizes different levels of heat illness, from least severe to most severe. You can find more information about the signs and symptoms of heat illness here on Penn State Extension’s website (also available in Spanish).

Have a plan if heat illness or stroke occurs.

For many workers, Velez notes, posting emergency information and safety steps in English and in Spanish, or any other language that workers know, may be critical. Velez also spends time with farm owners and managers to help them understand potential dangers, how to address them, and basic information such as how emergency crews can find their workers in the field. Tragically, a farmworker in the Pacific northwest last year died of heat stroke when ambulance crews couldn’t locate him.

Be willing to change practices to adjust to hotter temperatures.

Ali Ascherio, a farm manager with Weavers Way Co-op in Philadelphia, acknowledges that urban farms in particular can be oppressive with heat and humidity. Shifting habits and schedules can help. Weavers Way started a safety committee that encourages pre-hydrating for staff and volunteers, taking electrolyte tablets, and cutting field work back on hot days to half a day, with other tasks performed in the afternoon. Harvest days are cut back from 12 hour days to 10 hour days, and planting trees and adding structures for shade has helped head off heat exhaustion. 

Take advantage of the natural cooling opportunities on your farm.

Jenifer Glenister, owner of New Morning Farm—a vegetable operation in Huntington County—says she’s lucky to have plenty of trees and a cool creek that workers can stand in on hot days. She acknowledges part of the problem is a farmer mindset that “farmers make the sacrifice for all of us,” and encourages a team leader to be the point person for heat awareness. She has benefited from a farm staff person with EMS training who reminds workers every day about hydrating, staying in the shade, and taking breaks when needed. They also provide lots of electrolytes, “treating ourselves like the endurance athletes that we are,” she explained.

Unfortunately, not all farms are practicing heat safety, and farmworkers continue to be asked to work hard in extreme conditions. In four states to date—California, Oregon, Washington State and Montana—state legislatures have approved heat-related regulations that protect workers when temperatures reach specific limits, requiring breaks and shortening hours in the field. In 2021, the Biden administration asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to promulgate federal rules to protect outdoor workers from heat illnesses. Pasa’s comments to OSHA include many suggestions from our farmers and experts, including incorporating heat awareness into workforce training and apprenticeships; offering more resources for safety equipment and education; supporting more trees planted and adding more structures for shade—perhaps including solar panels that both provide shade and help reduce carbon emissions that increase annual average temperatures. 

As things heat up this summer, be aware, know the signs, be flexible, and be safe. If you have other strategies for beating the heat on your farm, feel free to share those with us at policy@pasafarming.org.

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The original Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, was a public work relief program developed in response to high unemployment and the ravages of poor soil health management that created the Dust Bowl. It was a far-sighted program that built trails, lean-tos, and cabins on state and national parks, and expanded forest management, flood control, and many other conservation-focused projects on public lands across the country. Slangily known as “three hots and a cot,” the program provided a lifeline for unemployed young men—offering not only accessible work opportunities but also training in new skills and a path toward stable, long-term employment.

Today, with multiple stresses from a changing climate, extensive soil loss, continued unemployment from a global pandemic, and the erosion of confidence in a prosperous and sustainable future, Pasa has been advocating to bring back this multifaceted program, and make it available to everyone while prioritizing younger and older people, people from rural and underserved communities, and formerly incarcerated people.

No less than six versions of a new CCC have been introduced to Congress over the past few years, and all share a kinship with the original program. Some are most focused on training fire crews to battle the increasing number of forest fires in the West. Others focus on restoring abandoned industrial landscapes with streams and green spaces. 

In Pennsylvania, Senator Bob Casey Jr. has created a version of the CCC called the Revive the CCC Act, introduced in July. It will be one of the bills “reconciled” as each CCC version jockeys for funding and position in what could ultimately become CCC 2.0. We support the Revive the CCC Act because Senator Casey agreed with Pasa that while public lands need reinvestment and restoration help, so do private forests and farms.

How a new CCC could work for farms

Including support for farmland conservation projects as part of a revitalized CCC would protect the health of our communities and natural landscapes.

Farmers in Pennsylvania alone are responsible for managing over 7 million acres of land, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the state’s 29 million acres. Implementing conservation measures on private agricultural lands offers cost-effective, invaluable public benefits—from vastly improving water quality and mitigating flooding, to building healthy soils and ensuring the long-term security of our food system. Including support for farmland conservation projects as part of a revitalized CCC would protect the health of our communities and natural landscapes.

Here, in brief, is how a new CCC could work: Federal dollars would be awarded to assemble work crews and train them in different skill sets, such as reclaiming mines, restoring streams, planting trees, fighting forest fires and reducing woodland fuels, restoring industrial sites, and revitalizing neighborhoods. These skills would be put to use on projects needed most by the community or region, including work on farms to install conservation practices, such as planting and maintaining trees and shrubs for riparian buffers. Crew members would get on-the-job skill training, and move on prepared for future jobs with better stability and better pay. Young crew members might get to stay in the communities they grew up in. Some might even want to become farmers—a career path facing a looming labor gap as most U.S. farmers approach retirement.

Similar to maintaining infrastructure like roads, highways, and bridges, it’s vital we restore and maintain our natural resources. Reviving the CCC would let us accomplish this while offering meaningful employment and potentially a pipeline for future farmers. A new CCC could translate into thousands of small projects—maybe one in your community, or one on your farm.  

Funding for a new Civilian Climate Corps that builds on existing service programs like Americorps, and employs over 300,000 Americans, is part of the Build Back Better Act currently under consideration in the U.S. House. In 2020, Pasa and ReImagine Appalachia partnered to advocate for including support for private farmland into Senator Casey’s bill and now the Build Back Better Act.

• How could a modern CCC help your farm improve conservation practices, and mitigate and adapt to climate change? Let us know so we can share your story. Email us at policy@pasafarming.org.

• Learn more about the Revive the CCC Act.

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