On behalf of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the bipartisan organization representing the legislatures of our nation's states, commonwealths and territories, we write to applaud Congressional efforts thus far to address the needs of American farmers and call for further action on the remaining traditional farm bill provisions. The repeated continuing resolutions that have been passed since the expiration of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 have been insufficient to appropriately support American agriculture. While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-121) provided initial vital relief more work still needs to be done. Congressional agriculture leaders have indicated that a "skinny" farm bill will be pursued this fall and NCSL stands ready to work with Congress on this important legislation.
As Congress develops and negotiates bill language, NCSL, on behalf of states, supports the following:
Bolstering the Agriculture Workforce
American agriculture cannot survive without an adequate workforce. As the average age of American farmers, producers and ranchers continues to increase according to data from the USDA's Farmers Census, NCSL urges Congress to proactively work with states to address this workforce need before it becomes a crisis. The federal government should continue to provide federal programs, loans, insurance and extreme weather recovery assistance and support state initiatives, programs, grants and tax incentives that aid beginning farmers and ranchers and encourage the development of the next generation of agriculture labor. NCSL also supports agriculture programs, local and regional food system integration initiatives and trainings that benefit American veterans and other limited-resource farmers.