Beginning Farmer & Rancher Opportunity Act Introduced in Congress

Key Ag Policymakers Advance Beginning Farmer &
Rancher Support for 2007 Farm Bill

CONTACT: Adam Warthesen, LSP, 612-722-6377

5/16/07
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Beginning farmer and rancher initiatives likely to become a part of the 2007 Farm Bill were introduced today in both chambers of Congress. The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act is authored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and U.S. Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), House Agriculture Committee member. The legislation also includes Senate co-sponsors Charles Grassley (R-IA), Max Baucus (D-MT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and House co-sponsors Tim Walz (D-MN) and Betty McCollum (D-MN).

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act is the first comprehensive policy approach to helping the next generation of farmers and ranchers take advantage of burgeoning opportunities in agriculture. The legislation includes several measures, including support for beginning farmer and rancher training programs, beginning farmer lending and savings provisions and conservation incentives for beginning farmers and ranchers.

"The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act addresses key obstacles to beginning farmers and ranchers and provides smart, cost-effective start-up support and incentives for America's next generation of family farms," said Rep. Walz. "This is sound public policy that can make a difference."

A central component of the bill is the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, which would support community-based organizations doing beginning farmer training programs. At $25 million a year, this competitive grants program would provide resources to community-based organizations that are in touch with the obstacles beginning farmers and ranchers face in their region.

"These policymakers should be commended for introducing this legislation," said Plainview, Minn., farmer Adam Bedtke. "This bill makes sense. We need to support beginning farmers as well as ongoing conservation efforts. Both are key to the future of agriculture."

Bedtke is a recent graduate of the Land Stewardship Project's (LSP) Farm Beginnings program, a 10-month community-based course where participants attend classes focused on goal setting, whole farm planning and business plan development, as well as attendance of on-farm workshops highlighting low-cost, sustainable farming methods.

The 2007 Farm Bill is expected to be completed later this year. With support from key members of Congress, including U.S. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN), advocates believe chances are good of passing a Farm Bill with polices and funding that support beginning farmers and ranchers.

"Young farmers and ranchers are the future of rural America," said Peterson, "I am looking forward to working closely with my colleagues on the House Committee on Agriculture—Tim Walz and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin—to secure that future in the 2007 Farm Bill."

Work on the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act has been moving forward since earlier this year.  In March, LSP's Farm Beginnings Director Karen Stettler testified in front of a Congressional subcommittee in support of policies to support beginning farmers and ranchers and about the opportunities in agriculture, as well as obstacles new farmers face.

As Congress moves forward on the 2007 Farm Bill, Bedtke hopes that rural development, conservation and initiatives that reduce barriers to entering agriculture are treated as top priorities.

"New farmers strengthen the farm economy, which in turn supports the local community," said Bedtke. "Enacting the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act as part of the 2007 Farm Bill should be a top priority."

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