What is the Farm Bill?

Jun 17, 2024

In a simple explanation, the farm bill is a package of legislation that governs an assemblage of agriculture and food programs. However, there is nothing simple about the farm bill.

While the roots of the farm bill are planted deep in its farm support programs, the bill has expanded to address various issues in an ever-evolving world. From conservation initiatives and bioenergy to rural development and nutrition policy, the farm bill provides funding for programs that impact individuals of different regions and social demographics across the country.

The current farm bill is made up of 12 titles:

Title I: Commodities — Provides support for major commodity crops, including wheat, corn, soybeans, peanuts, rice, dairy, and sugar. Reauthorizes marketing loan and disaster programs. Title I includes funding for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.

Title II: Conservation — Encourages environmental stewardship of farmland and refined land management through land retirement programs and/ or working lands programs. Addresses environmental and natural resource concerns [HB2] . Title II includes funding for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP).

Title III: Trade — Supports the U.S. agricultural export programs as well as various international food assistance programs. Title III includes funding for the Foreign Market Development (FMD) and Market Access Development Programs (MAP).

Title IV: Nutrition — Provides nutrition assistance for low-income households through programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Title V: Credit — Provides lending opportunities that private commercial entities cannot offer, consisting of direct government loans for producers to buy land and operate farms and ranches.

Title VI: Rural Development — Provides funding to programs to build competitive advantages in rural communities. Supports rural housing, business, community facilities, and utility programs through grants, loans, and guarantees.

Title VII: Research, Extension, and Related Matters — Supports agriculture extension and research programs to develop academic knowledge and assist producers in becoming more productive. Title VII includes funding for programs such as the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

Title VIII: Forestry — Provides authority for the U.S. Forest service and supports forestry management programs.

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Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.