Develop a USDA Cover Crop Initiative

AFT recommends that the Biden Administration create a USDA-wide initiative to serve as a catalyst for broader cover crop adoption as a key step toward harnessing agriculture to help solve the climate crisis. Cover crops are planted after the primary crop is harvested in order to “cover” the soil during the fallow season, protecting it from erosion and leaching. They are a proven, low-cost natural climate solution, capable of sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into soils.

Establish a Commission on Farm Transitions

The U.S. is undergoing a seismic shift in farmland ownership that will impact American agriculture for generations to come. According to AFT research, seniors aged 65 and older own more than 40% of the agricultural land in the United States. This suggests an impending transfer of more than 370 million acres of farmland in the next two decades. Public policy will play a pivotal role in determining how and to whom this land will transfer, and whether this vital national resource is accessible to a new generation of producers, or simply paved over for development.

Recognizing this threat, Congress authorized a “Commission on Farm Transitions—Needs for 2050” in the 2018 Farm Bill. The 10-member Commission is tasked with studying issues impacting the transition of agricultural operations to the next generation of farmers and ranchers. Intended for completion within one year of enactment, the Commission has not yet been constituted. The Commission represents an excellent opportunity for the Biden Administration to identify and develop support for strategies that will help older farmers and landowners retire and help a new, diverse generation of producers build strong and successful farm enterprises.

Maximize the Economic and Environmental Benefits of ACEP-ALE

The land vital to our country’s food security, rural economy, and climate goals continues to be lost at an alarming rate. In just the 15-year period from 2001-2016, 11 million acres of agricultural land (equivalent to all US farmland devoted to fruit, nut, and vegetable production in 2017) were paved over or converted to uses that threaten the future of agriculture.

The Agricultural Conservation Easements Program-Agricultural Land Easements (ACEP-ALE), the one federal program dedicated to protecting agricultural land, will require significant additional resources to meet current need and demand. The Biden Administration could use ACEP-ALE not just to protect additional agricultural land, but also to increase conservation, enable reinvestment in farm operations, and create opportunity for a new generation.

Strengthening the Farmland Protection Policy Act

As policymakers look to farmers and ranchers to help combat the climate crisis and foster more resilient local food systems, the land that these producers steward and rely on is under threat. The federal government has been a significant contributor in the conversion of farmland. In just the 15-year period from 2001-2016, 1.3 million acres were proposed for conversion by projects that received federal funding.

While vitally necessary, new federal investments in infrastructure can and must be made in a way that minimizes the impact on the working farmland and ranchland needed to meet national climate and food security goals. The Biden Administration has an opportunity to show leadership in this arena using the Farmland Protection Policy Act.

Create a Debt for Working Lands Initiative

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused market disruptions and significant losses of income within the agricultural sector. Because of this, many producers have had to take on additional debt. As the Biden Administration considers ways to alleviate the pandemic’s economic impact, AFT encourages the expansion of the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Conservation Contract concept to provide additional conservation-focused debt relief and restructuring tools. An expansion of this program – in the form of a “Debt for Working Lands” Initiative – could allow producers to reduce and restructure debt in exchange for a permanent agricultural conservation easement or a shorter-term non-development covenant.

Commit to protecting and conserving 30 percent of working farmland and ranchland by 2030

• Use voluntary agricultural conservation easements to permanently protect at least 5 percent of farmland and ranchland from development by 2030, ensuring that it can continue producing food in perpetuity.

• Incentivize adoption of conservation measures on these permanently protected acres and an additional 25% of farmland and ranchland, with a specific focus on conserving biodiversity and/or implementing natural climate solutions.

Take immediate action to accelerate working lands protection and biodiversity conservation using USDA’s existing programs and authorities

• Appoint a high-level USDA 30×30 coordinator and offer support to state agencies.

• Develop a mechanism to account for all acres protected and conserved via federal programs; encourage and enable voluntary reporting on complementary non-federal efforts.

• Use geospatial data to improve targeting of existing conservation cost-share programs, including by expanding the successful Working Lands for Wildlife program.

• Increase capacity to provide conservation technical assistance, through additional NRCS staffing, partnerships with third-party organizations, and Civilian Climate Corps workers.

Fight the loss of working lands to development

• Dramatically expand investment in the Agricultural Conservation Easement ProgramAgricultural Land Easements (ACEP-ALE) and the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP).

• Strengthen the Farmland Protection Policy Act and ensure that it covers new federal investments in renewable energy.

• Create new tools to reduce the conversion of our best agricultural land and incentivize the transfer of land to the next generation of producers.

Launch a targeted effort to protect wildlife habitat on working lands

• Provide major new funding for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) to establish an initiative focused on protecting and conserving private working lands in biodiversity hotspots and wildlife movement corridors.

• Expand the toolbox of incentives for rural landowners to protect wildlife habitat.