More people are tuning in for this round of Farm Bill debates than ever before. But keeping up with the proceedings (and the politics!) is no easy task. Now that we’ve finally made it to 2012, the year the last Farm Bill is set to expire, we’ll be posting updates from time to time to keep you in the know as the Farm Bill effort unfolds.
Late last year you may have heard rumblings of closed-door Super Committee meetings shaping the framework for the next Farm Bill in just a matter of weeks. This super secretive and unconventional effort failed, leaving us with the more typical and public route for the Farm Bill to be considered this year. Alas, it is an election year, which may either gum things up or, conversely, speed them along. The latter is the hope of Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, who recently announced the first series of Farm Bill hearings to be held in February and March on topics ranging from energy and economic growth to risk management and commodities.
Farm Aid is proud to be one of more than 200 organizations across the country to support The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act of 2011 – a “marker bill” being used to introduce key policy reforms to the Farm Bill that will develop local and regional food system infrastructure from farm to plate. Stay tuned for more news about this bill and other opportunities to support family farmers and sustainable agriculture as the Farm Bill gains speed in DC.
In the meantime, check out Farm Aid’s Farm Bill page to brush up on the basics and read past posts on the topic.
