Advocacy

The Farm bill sets U.S. federal agriculture policy and is reauthorized by Congress through the House and Senate Agriculture Committees roughly every five years. It includes titles covering nutrition, commodities, conservation, trade, rural development, research, forestry, energy, horticulture and organic agriculture, livestock, crop insurance, and more. In addition to updating programs and policies, Congress also determines the funding levels for various programs at USDA.

With the 2023 farm bill right around the corner, it’s a good time to get to know the decisionmakers who will have a hand in setting the country’s food and agriculture policy for the next five years.

Organic supports climate resilience, economic security, and health equity. CCOF’s goal is to expand the benefits of organic to all of California by transitioning 30 percent of California’s agricultural land to organic by 2030. Currently, just under 10 percent of farmland in California is organic. To reach this target, we took a deep dive into the research on the benefits of organic and how organic can be supported at the policy level. We developed nearly 40 recommendations in our Roadmap to an Organic California: Policy Report. And now, we’re enacting these recommendations.

Although agriculture issues will likely not be top of mind for voters in the upcoming midterm elections this November, the outcomes of this election cycle will certainly influence farm policy in a big way. Congress has recently begun rewriting and reauthorizing the current farm bill, which expires in 2023. The timing of this process is colliding with the upcoming midterms, whose outcome will shape what is in the farm bill and who gets to decide.

On August 9, 2022 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) published the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) Proposed Rule to strengthen organic animal welfare standards.

A running list of engagement opportunities, recap articles, and other helpful information leading up to the finalization of the 2023 Farm Bill.  

Since April 2021, when the Organic Trade Association (OTA) celebrated the introduction of the Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act (CIAO) by our champions in Congress, the association has been hard at work to keep continuous improvement and accountability moving forward. OTA and our members have continued to advocate for a more transparent and streamlined organic rulemaking process so that the industry can keep pace with the demands of a changing marketplace and consumer expectations.

The House Appropriations Committee passed their Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs markup on June 23, 2022 by a 31-26 vote.

Following President Biden’s Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” which creates a White House Competition Council and directs Federal agency actions to enhance fairness and competition across America's economy, USDA is directed (among other things) to submit a report on the effect of retail concentration and retailers' practices on competition in the food industries.

Following a series of working groups and listening sessions with Organic Trade Association (OTA) members throughout the last year, on June 1, 2022, USDA announced its intention to invest $300 million into a new Organic Transition Initiative program as part of the USDA Food System Transformation Framework.