Two U.S. Senators have introduced a bill intended to provide a boost peer-to-peer networks between farmers and authorize the NRCS to take a deeper role in supporting them.
The Farmer to Farmer Act, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) would authorize the NRCS to enter into cooperative agreements with community-based organizations in each state that are able to identify and build on established and burgeoning peer-to-peer networks and create new ones.
The Act defines eligible entities as a non-profit, farmer-to-farmer networks, an Indian Tribe or Tribal organization, a unit of local government (including a conservation district or conservation district association), high ed institution or other entity designated by the agency.
Moran and Luján, members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, reintroduced legislation to expand the reach of peer-to-peer networks that are already helping farmers manage production challenges.
“As farmers and ranchers are met daily with unique challenges, including unexpected weather, droughts and floods, they often turn to colleagues to find the right answer. This bill fills a critical gap in federal programs to support and provide guidance to those networks,” the Senators said in a statement Wednesday.
“Limited access to technical assistance is one of the many conservation challenges farmers and ranchers across the country face every day,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation would allow farmer-to-farmer groups to develop cooperative agreements with USDA to share conservation concepts and new practices.”
“Existing programs often fall short in providing the support and guidance needed during these times,” said Luján, adding the Act, “will help improve coordination between local farmer-to-farmer networks and the USDA and NRCS. Strengthening this connection will ensure farmers receive timely, specialized information to better protect their crops and livestock.”
American Farmland Trust’s Senior Policy Manager, Samantha Levy, said the organization supports the proposed Act, as it would, “supplement the essential support producers receive from NRCS, nonprofit conservation organizations and districts, and others to successfully implement practices critical to the resilience and viability of their operations.”
Several other national ag organizations voice support for the proposed legislation:
- Ben Knuth, Agriculture Policy Manager at National Wildlife Federation: “We learn from best from people who are like us. The Farmer to Farmer Education Act would help connect producers to support each other's on-farm conservation efforts. As complements to USDA's existing conservation technical assistance, these learning networks offer informal opportunities to learn about improving soil, water, and wildlife outcomes.”
- Lotanna Obodozie, Climate Policy Director, National Young Farmers Coalition: “Farmers and ranchers across the country serve as a valuable resource to their peers when it comes to knowledge-sharing about farming best practices and resources. As farmers adapt to a changing climate, it will become even more important that farmers continue learning from their most trusted sources: each other.”
- Jenny Conner Nelms, Associate Director of Legislative Affairs at The Nature Conservancy: “For farming and ranching families, helping one another is just part of their way of life. Supporting local, producer-led networks is a natural, common-sense way to help farmers and ranchers share information with their neighbors and manage challenges together, like droughts and floods.”
