Farm Bill 2018-2019 

2018 Farm Bill: Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018:
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20181210/CRPT-115hrpt1072.pdf 12/10/18

Congress approves $400 billion for farmers, forests, poor, H&N 12/13/18. "the bill doesn’t include: tighter work requirements for food stamp recipients...the White House asked Congress to make changes to the forestry section in response to deadly wildfires in California, giving more authority to the Agriculture and Interior departments to clear forests and other public lands. The final text doesn’t significantly increase the agencies’ authority..."
New Farm Bill a Win for Conservation, The Nature Conservancy 12/11/18, "...increase the flexibility and direct resources going toward public-private partnerships and easements. It also extends the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program..."
5 reasons senate farm bill is a conservation powerhouse, Environmental Defense Fund June 2018
What you need to know about the new farm bill,  Sierra Club 12/14/18. "The new farm bill doesn’t make any significant changes to SNAP (food stamps, about $70Billion)...The House was forced to drop nearly all of its demands for increased logging of national forests...Overall funding for conservation programs remained almost even with prior levels, at around $60 billion...more funding for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program...Several new animal rights measures are in place...allowed family farms to add extended family members—like cousins, nephews, and nieces—in order to increase the size of their farm subsidies, even if those relatives do not do any physical labor..."

PRESS RELEASE - CA Congressman LaMalfa Urges Strong

Forest Management in Final Farm Bill Conference Report 9/20/18

2012 - 2013 Farm Bill

Below is the entire 1000+ Page bill. Amendments are being added daily.
The 2012 Farm Bill S 3240.
S. 3240 Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act 

Our concern has been that the Farm Bill would "help" fund the controversial Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement / KBRA
     * The KBRA would take out 4 hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River,
     * downsize agriculture, and give Klamath Tribes a forest they sold
     * The rural communities oppose the plan born in closed-door meetings.

KBC EDITOR: To date, no language IN this bill has mentioned the KBRA. However it is the opinion of KBC News that there are references to funding parts of the controversial KBRA conservation plans and other controversial conservation measures letters from some groups regarding Farm Bill funds. Resource users represented by our website are always concerned about funding for easements, land and water idling, transfers, sales, other willing seller schemes, and giving control of land and water to NGO's and other government agencies,  which we believe harm and threaten our communities. We do support many of the conservation plans that are based on sound science when full transparent goals are disclosed and agreed upon by all involved. One example is funds to irrigators for more efficient irrigation systems.

KBC News does not post articles, letters, or quotes as facts: these articles and letters are sent to us by our readers to post for your viewing. Read their links; we enclosed unedited links to their original messages for you to read and make your own judgments. 

Specifically, the following link by EDF referenced the KBRA. We post, you decide.

Farm Bill Water Conservation Programs, Environmental Defense fund October 2011. (Corrected date)
http://www. edf.org/sites/default/files/Farm%20Bill%20Conservation%20Programs%20v101111.pdf.    Page 16 on how $9 million would be paid over 5 years to take from irrigators 15,000 acre feet of water per year, with options if they permanently sell their water right, with involvement by Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust. P 18: "The recent Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement calls for restoring 30,000 acre feet per year of flow to Upper Klamath Lake."

Articles, letters and newsletters pertaining to the 2012 -2013 Farm Bill.
We are not implying that these letters or groups all support funds in the 2012 Farm Bill to "help" fund parts of the KBRA.

* House OKs scaled-down farm bill minus food stamps, Capital Press 7/11/13.
* PRESS RELEASE: LaMalfa Comments on Passage of Farm Bill Reforms 7/11/13. "Traditional farm policy is cut by almost $23 billion – a record 36 percent reduction."

House rejects farm bill, Capital Press 6/20/13

House OKs scaled-down farm bill minus food stamps, Capital Press 7/11/13.

House defeats farm bill amid bipartisan opposition, Fox News 6/20/13. 

Senate begins work on massive farm bill, Capital Press 5/14/13.

The Nature Conservancy supports 2013 Farm Bill, posted to KBC 5/14/13: "Improve the conservation of wetlands, grasslands and private forests by maintaining funding for easements, with a special emphasis placed on permanent easements and the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP) and Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP)..."

The Food Stamp Bill, Families Protecting the Valley Newsletter 12/10/12. "...we just wish they would change the name to something more in line with what the farm bill has become, namely, the food stamp bill. 80% of the farm bill is related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps"

Coalition of 39 groups call for Congress to pass farm bill, Capital Press, posted to KBC 8/24/12.

Senate bill brings some big changes to farm policy, Capital Press 6/22/12. "The Senate is expected to show bipartisan support for the $500 billion bill that sets farm safety net and conservation policies and funds the food stamp program over the next five years...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky opened Thursday's session by praising the Senate's recent successes in getting bills passed...Food stamps continue to command the great majority of farm bill dollars. Spurred by the bad economy, there are now 46 million people getting food stamps, at a cost of about $80 billion a year. That's 80 percent of the entire farm bill budget."

Speak Up For the Farm Bill, The Nature Conservancy June 2012. Top Priority: "Conserve and Restore Key Habitats –Improve the conservation of wetlands, grasslands and private forests by maintaining funding for easements, with a special emphasis placed on permanent easements and the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP) and Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP). Easement Programs are critical to the conservation of wetlands, grasslands, floodplains and private forests. Status: On April 26, 2012 the Senate Agriculture Committee passed a bill with $2.2 billion over five years for the WRP, GRP and FRPP. Congress should maintain these funding levels. (WHIP)."

Senate ag panel passes farm bill, Capital Press, posted to KBC 4/29/12

Patrick O'Toole, President of Family Farm Alliance, Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture, Sub-committee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry, Oversight Hearing on "Formulation of the 2012 Farm Bill, Conservation Programs,"  April 26, 2012.

Letter to Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner from 523 organizations supporting conservation funding, 6/12/12.

Family Farm Alliance engages in new farm bill coalition, Family Farm Alliance 3/2012, page 6

Correction: This page was previously unintentionally mis-titled. Our apologies for any problems from this mistake.

====================================================

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml