Washington, DC, June 4, 2024 – Today, Connecticut Representatives Hayes (D-CT-5), Larson (D-CT-1), Courtney (D-CT-2), DeLauro (D-CT-3), and Himes (D-CT-4) teamed up with Reps. Adams (D-NC-12), Neal (D-MA-1), McGovern (D-MA-2), and Jackson (D-TX-18) to introduce the Save Our Small (SOS) Farms Act. This bill would meaningfully expand access to the farm safety net for small, diversified, and underserved farmers and ranchers who find themselves at the mercy of worsening storms but unable to access coverage.
“There is no acceptable reason that our country’s small farmers should be forced to crowdfund to stay afloat after unexpected floods and worsening droughts,” said Billy Hackett, NSAC Policy Specialist. “The SOS Farms Act represents a true commitment to building a farm safety net that supports all farmers, in sharp contrast to the House farm bill mark which recently passed from committee. The framework presented in this bill must be incorporated into the next farm bill to protect producers that are historically left to the elements.”
The bill specifically includes several proposals to improve the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), once derided as the “Not A Penny” program. Key among them is the authorization of a revenue-based “on-ramp” for producers enrolled in NAP to graduate to a Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) plan of insurance once three years of revenue history are established. Historically, that requirement has been a barrier for new and transitioning farmers unable to access coverage in their first three years.
The SOS Farms Act also includes the full text of the WFRP Improvement Act and the Withstanding Extreme Agricultural Threats by Harvesting Economic Resilience (WEATHER) Act, two bills introduced in the Senate by Senators Brown (D-OH) and Welch (D-VT), respectively, and endorsed by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) but without companions in the House of Representatives – until now. Each of these bills is key to NSAC’s vision of strengthening the farm safety net.
“We know what barriers lead to falling WFRP enrollment from years of collecting data, testimony, and feedback from farmers and insurance agents on-the-ground. This [WFRP Improvement] Act will finally allow WFRP to reach its full promise and potential to deliver affordable and streamlined insurance coverage to all farmers who want it,” noted Hackett.
“The WEATHER Act would allow USDA to pilot a new kind of insurance product that – if tailored to small and underserved producers as directed in the bill – would help address the dramatic gap in access to the safety net as a complement to needed improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection insurance program,” stated Hackett.
The bill text can be found here.
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The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more and get involved at: https://sustainableagriculture.net