Why It Matters: After expiring last year, leaders in the House and Senate are making progress toward the next iteration of the legislation. Last week, the House Agriculture Committee held a markup for a Farm Bill led by Committee Chairman Congressman G.T. Thompson. This hearing marks an important step toward the development and passage of the next Farm Bill. However, both House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders are calling for bipartisan legislation, adding another layer of complexity to the conversation given the diverse priorities at play. Fortunately, both House and Senate iterations of the Farm Bill contain several priorities identified by the sporting-conservation community.
Highlights:
- Last week, the House Agriculture Committee held a markup to advance H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, out of Committee, a major step in the path toward a reauthorization of the Farm Bill.
- In Chairman Thompson’s bill, as well as in the legislation introduced in the Senate by Chairwoman Stabenow, sportsmen and women have celebrated the inclusion of many conservation priorities in the next iteration of the Farm Bill.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) remains engaged in the process, advocating for robust investments in fish and wildlife habitat conservation in the Farm Bill’s Conservation and Forestry Titles.
Despite the many hurdles that remain ahead of Congress as they debate the next iteration of the Farm Bill, the House Agriculture Committee took an important first step last week by holding a markup for the recently introduced Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024. This legislation, authored and led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman and Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Member Representative G.T. Thompson, includes many priorities identified by CSF as it relates to the Farm Bill’s Conservation and Forestry Titles.
Priorities of note included in the draft Farm Bill include increased funding for critical conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Likewise, Chairman’s Thompson’s bill also includes increased funding for the Voluntary Public Access – Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP), an important access program for sportsmen and women, and the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Program. Finally, on the forestry side and in addition to other support for active forest management, the draft bill includes the widely supported Forest Conservation Easement Program (FCEP), a top priority for CSF and many partners.
In addition to the House Agriculture Committee’s markup of their version of the Farm Bill, members of the sporting-conservation community were also highlighting the inclusion of many priorities in the recently released framework for the Senate’s Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act led by Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairwoman and CSC Member Debbie Stabenow. Recognizing this, sportsmen and women should remain optimistic about the forthcoming investments in conservation that the next Farm Bill could bring. Though partisan priorities may slow the legislations’ progress, support for conservation from both sides of the aisle remains strong.
CSF looks forward to working with both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to see a robust Farm Bill signed into law in 2024.
