Farm-state senators will try to move $37 billion into the farm bill that originally was earmarked for a handful of USDA activities, including climate mitigation, in the climate, health and tax law last summer, said a Senate Agriculture Committee senior staffer on Monday.
The money has been eyed for months as a potential way to pay for farm bill initiatives at a moment when funding is tight.
Agriculture Committee members on both sides of the Capitol say additional resources are needed for the 2023 farm bill. Ag groups have asked for a stronger farm safety net and expanded crop insurance. There also are calls for more attention to small farmers and to double the funding for USDA export promotion programs.
“There is going to be an effort to bring those dollars into the farm bill,” said John Newton, an economist for Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee, referring to $37 billion allocated to USDA in the Inflation Reduction Act. “That doesn’t mean it’s our intent to take it out of conservation.”
The $37 billion included $18.5 billion for land stewardship with a priority on climate mitigation; $9.7 billion for clean energy in rural areas; $5 billion for forestry; and $3 billion for debt relief.
A “bipartisan conversation” among senators would determine whether any of the money should be re-programmed, Newton told the North American Agricultural Journalists meeting. “Perhaps there is a better use of these resources, a more targeted use of these resources.”
In early March, the House Agriculture Committee said it planned a thorough analysis of the climate law funding “and will be working to ensure they are targeted to address the most critical conservation needs to maximize the environmental impact or address other related concerns in the farm bill.”
For their part, Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, the senior Republican on the committee, said early this month that additional resources were needed to strengthen the farm and food safety nets.
Agriculture Undersecretary Robert Bonnie told NAAJ the climate law money “is incredibly important for conservation.” The USDA has allotted $850 million of the climate funding so far, and Bonnie said he was “confident we are going to be able to move those dollars.”
