January Organic Policy Update

NOC is looking to the weeks and months ahead and preparing for some intense advocacy to advance organic agriculture. The following activities will move forward in 2024, with urgent Congressional action needed on some items:

  1. Congress needs to pass Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills to keep the government funded (or pass a continuing resolution to buy more time to negotiate spending bills).

  2. Congress needs to return to the Farm Bill, which was extended last fall. House Ag Committee Chair, G.T. Thompson has stated that he is aiming to move the House Farm Bill forward in March.

  3. The Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations process is about to begin – ideally, Congress will pass spending bills for Fiscal Year 2025 by September 30, 2024 (the fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30). In reality, this process is rarely completed on time.

  4. In addition, we are already in the thick of the 2024 Presidential election campaign season – Iowa held the first-in the nation Republican caucuses on January 15 in sub-zero temperatures.

Given all that is happening, organic advocates will need to keep organic priorities front and center as the Farm Bill and Appropriations legislative processes move forward.

 

Farm Bill Priorities

In our work to advance organic in the Farm Bill, NOC and our allies have introduced and are working hard to advance seven ‘marker bills’:

  1. Opportunities in Organic Act – a bill to boost organic certification cost share reimbursements to $1,500 per operation each year and to provide ongoing funding to build on elements of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative.  Learn more.

  2. Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Act – a bill to require USDA to act in a timely and transparent manner to advance the organic standards. Learn more.

  3. Organic Research Bills: Strengthening Organic Agriculture Research Act and Organic Science and Research Investment Act – these bills provide continued, needed investments into organic agriculture research and market analysis to increase resilience of U.S. agriculture, create economic opportunity for producers, and improve the ecological vitality of the landscape. Learn more.

  4. Organic Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Reporting Yields (O DAIRY) Act – a bill provide crucial support to the organic dairy industry in the United States and to mandate improved data collection for organic dairy.  Learn more.

  5. Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act – a bill that promotes the development of ready-to-use regionally adapted seed varieties and animal breeds that meet the needs farmers face in their regions and unique growing conditions. Learn more.

  6. Agriculture Resilience Act – comprehensive legislation that sets a bold vision of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. agriculture by the year 2040 and creates conservation payment limit equity for organic farmers in EQIP.  Learn more.

  7. Justice for Black Farmers Act – a bill that enacts policies to end discrimination within the USDA, protect remaining Black farmers from losing their land, and provide land grants to encourage a new generation of Black farmers and restore the land base that has been lost. Learn more.

You can learn more about each of these bills using NOC’s Organic Marker Bill Tracker. We are also asking you to TAKE ACTION to support organic in the Farm Bill (It’s easy! With just a few clicks, you can send messages directly to your members of Congress to express your support for organic).

Appropriations Legislation

The appropriations process is critically important because it determines funding levels for the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). As a result of NOC’s recent advocacy, Congress has more than doubled the NOP budget, boosting NOP funding from around $9 million annually in 2017 to more than $22 million for fiscal year 2023. 

Funding levels for key organic research programs are also determined through the appropriations process. Learn more about how the appropriations process works and NOC’s priorities here.

 

New Regulations in 2024

NOC is also tracking important updates to the organic regulations in 2024, which we describe in greater depth in this blog post.

Abby Youngblood