The Farm Bill’s Rural Development title addresses rural community and economic development through a variety of USDA programs, from broadband investments to waste and water disposal and wastewater treatment facilities, from general business assistance to rural energy, electrification, and cybersecurity. The 2018 Farm Bill has a re-energized focus on rural public health, addressing opioid abuse…
Read MoreTitle V: Credit
The Credit title authorizes USDA agricultural credit and rural development programs. It also “provides support to farmers with limited access to traditional lending markets by increasing direct loan and loan guarantee limits made by the Farm Service Agency” (USDA ERS). The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (ConAct) first authorized credit and rural development programs…
Read MoreFood and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act
The increasing concentration of food and agriculture has had significant impacts on the well being of family and small-scale farms, as well as on food chain workers, our food, our communities, and our natural environment. This bill would impose a moratorium on mergers and acquisitions between large farm, food, and grocery companies and establish a commission…
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Title IV: Nutrition
The Nutrition title addresses domestic food and nutrition and commodity distribution programs. The 2018 Farm Bill increased the estimated budget for Title IV by $1.1 billion dollars, but this increase is expected to be cost-neutral in the long-run due to a decrease in estimated spending by other programs. The largest program in the title, the…
Read MoreTitle III: Trade
Title III of the 2018 Farm Bill concerns USDA’s food aid, export market development, and export credit guarantee programs. The 2018 Farm Bill enhanced the flexibility of many international food assistance programs in order to not only help those in need, but also help local economies where those people in need are located. International food…
Read MoreTitle II: Conservation
The Conservation title provides assistance in the form of payments and technical support in order to help farmers, ranchers, and landowners utilize conservation practices in their operations. By incentivizing use of conservation practices with these voluntary programs, this title aims to protect and improve water, soil, wildlife, and air. Overall mandatory funding for conservation programs…
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