Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance Releases Farm Bill Priorities

Walmsley: The most important of which are voluntary and incentive based, [to] advance science-based outcomes, promote resilience of rural communities, ensure all farmers have the ability to participate, and are strongly bipartisan. Over 100 recommendations are being made, they focus around conservation, energy, food waste, forestry, livestock and dairy, and research extension and innovation.

Walmsley: When you look over the last few years, those conservation programs have helped farmers and ranchers voluntarily enroll over 140 million acres. And so, while not all the recommendations are focused on funding, a lot of them are trying to improve existing programs or improving processes at USDA that makes it easier for farmers and ranchers to help implement climate-smart practices, and of course treats farmers and ranchers as partners going forward in this endeavor.

Walmsley: These recommendations are a menu of options for Congress to look at with a broad base of support that helps farmers and ranchers continue to be great stewards of our natural resources.