Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill
We are currently working on an updated print edition of our Grassroots Guide, which we expect to be available for purchase in early March. We apologize for the inconvenience. In the meantime, we will be updating the online version as new information becomes available. If you need a hard copy, you can download and print the old pdf version.
The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s (SAC) Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill walks you through each of thirty-four 2008 Farm Bill programs most important to sustainable agriculture, serving both as a “report from the trenches” of what survived the most recent farm bill fight, and as a guide to new policies and funding opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and grassroots organizations.
The farm bill programs are clustered into seven chapters, which appear in the left navigation of this page: Conservation and Environment; Farming Opportunities; Local and Regional Food Systems and Rural Development; Organic Production; Sustainable and Organic Research; Renewable Energy; and Competitive Markets and Commodity Program Reform.
Each program within each chapter follows the format: 1) the basic intent of the farm bill program, including eligibility requirements, 2) changes that the 2008 Farm Bill makes to the program if it was initially authorized in a previous bill, 3) legislative citations, 4) funding levels, 5) implementation information, and 6) the contact information for the respective administrative office within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This is not a digest of the entire farm bill—this Guide highlights the programs and policies that were SAC priorities, most of which were included in our farm bill platform entitled No Time for Delay. We have, however, included a few additional new farm bill programs where we think they may be of particular interest to sustainable agriculture organizations and their farmer and constituent members. Please also note that a number of SAC priority federal policies and programs are not included in this Guide because they were not amended by the 2008 Farm Bill or were not changed in any significant way.
As the first edition of the Grassroots Guide goes to press, the Administration has only just begin to issue rule-makings, program guidelines, and requests for proposals for the 2008 Farm Bill programs. That initial farm bill implementation process will continue well into 2009 and into the next Administration with its new political appointees. Therefore, this web-version of the Grassroots Guide will be continually updated to reflect any changes or additional information as new rules and guidelines are posted. We encourage readers and users of the Guide to consult the electronic version to keep up with the latest information.
In addition to using this guide, stay tuned for a set of specialized farm bill guides slated for early- to-mid 2009. Each of these supplemental guides will be more narrowly focused on specific issue areas in the farm bill, such as a handbook on programs supporting organic agriculture or local and regional food systems or a farmer participation manual for the Conservation Stewardship Program.
The 2008 Farm Bill contains many good programs that can scale up existing alternatives to agri-industrialism or be the seeds for sowing new sustainable agriculture systems and practices. While we celebrate our wins in the 2008 Farm Bill, SAC will continue to fight for deeper structural change in our farming and food system. SAC is committed to helping farmers, ranchers, and their organizations take advantage of good farm bill programs, while at the same time building the capacity of grassroots organizations to equip farmers, conservationists, rural advocates, and food activists with the tools they need to participate in the policy-making process and help win greater farm and food policy reform in the coming years.