Do you live in the U.S.?
Do you eat?
Do you care about animal welfare?
If so, please read on …
Image: Scott Bayer, USDA
“The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. It provides an opportunity for policymakers to comprehensively and periodically address agricultural and food issues.”[i]
This massive piece of legislation is passed by Congress about every 5 years, the last one in 2018. Those of you proficient in math will recognize that a Farm Bill should have been passed in 2023. AFA has been talking about the Farm Bill since early 2023 (see our February and March 2023 blogs). We’ve had several Lunch + Legislation guests speak about it.
The price tag is expected to be a whopping $1.5 trillion dollars. The Farm Bill is an “omnibus bill”, because it combines many different provisions and programs into a single piece of legislation. That means that stand-alone (“marker”) bills, both good and bad, can be swept up and become part of the Farm Bill that is eventually enacted. In May 2023, the EATS act became a part of the discussion as its sponsors, backed by such industries as the pork producers, saw it as a workaround to the US Supreme Court ruling in April 2023 that essentially upheld California’s Prop. 12. This farmed animal welfare law was challenged by none other than the National Pork Producers Council, who objected to Prop. 12’s requirement that pork raised in other states could not be sold in California unless the animals had been raised in conditions meeting the California law. The Supreme Court upheld the law and noted that Congress had not established standards that applied nationwide. Shortly thereafter, the EATS Act was introduced to fill that void.
Both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees have released versions of the bill. There are many significant differences. The House version was not released until May 2024 (and has since been voted out of Committee and is now ready for a full House vote). There was much speculation as to whether the House bill would contain the very controversial EATS Act. It did.
In addition, the House draft contains other problematic provisions, such as significant reduction in nutrition programs, continuation of programs favoring large industrial agriculture (some of whom are now foreign-owned), cuts in funding for climate-smart practices.
The bill also gives handouts to mink farmers and dog breeders.[ii] It fails to include provisions requiring USDA to step up enforcement of large scale dog breeders (“puppy mills”) and fails to include a provision prohibiting horse slaughter. Further, it weakens the Endangered Species Act by failing to require cross-agency cooperation.
There is still a long way to go before a Farm Bill is signed into law. The House version faces hurdles both from the Senate and its Agriculture Committee Chair, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow[iii]; and even from some conservative House members[iv].
All of this is by way of explaining why we are still focused on the Farm Bill, and ask you to continue to contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative with the message: “Don’t pass the House version of the Farm Bill, and especially do not include the EATS Act in the final bill.” Find your elected officials here.
[i] Monke, Jim and Johnson, Renée. (2024, February 29). Farm Bill Primer: What is the Farm Bill? CRS Report No. IF12047, https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12047#:~:text=The%20farm%20bill%20is%20an,address%20agricultural%20and%20food%20issues.
[ii] See articles by major animal welfare groups: https://www.humanesociety.org/blog/farm-bill-animal-welfare-nightmare and https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aspca-condemns-passage-of-house-farm-bill-that-guts-protections-for-billions-of-animals-302155336.html#:~:text=Attacks%20Local%20and%20State%20Farm,bans%20on%20cruel%20farming%20practices.
[iii] https://michiganadvance.com/2024/06/26/stabenow-says-gop-farm-bill-is-not-balanced-and-wont-pass-through-the-us-senate/
[iv] https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4677681-left-right-unite-house-republican-farm-bill-proposal-opposition/