ASTA 2025 Farm Bill Priorities

Farm Bill programs play a pivotal role in ensuring certainty for producers across all regions and sectors of U.S. agriculture, and provide for a more nutritious and food-secure future both at home and abroad. Resiliency and prosperity in agriculture starts with seed. Better seed produces better crops for a better quality of life. ASTA offers the following considerations for the 2024 Farm Bill, in the following priority areas:

1. Conservation
2. Agriculture Research
3. Trade
4. Innovation
5. Risk Management

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Conservation

The seed industry plays a unique and critical role in supporting conservation programs by developing and providing diverse, locally and broadly adapted, high-quality seed, enabling farmers to both increase agricultural productivity and conserve natural resources. Farmers and landowners need quality, professionally produced seed, including cover crop seed, to meet their conservation and business goals. Due to the nature of the years-long seed production process – which is high risk and research intense – the seed industry faces a significant challenge in meeting rapidly-changing farmer demand. As demand for conservation seed continues to rise, the ability to meet the specific variety needs of farmers in the future requires clear and predictable long-term policies and collaboration among the seed industry, farmers and government. For more details on seed industry conservation priorities, see ASTA’s written testimony submitted to the House Agriculture Committee.

ASTA Farm Bill Recommendations:

1. Provide New Approaches to Expand Cover Crop Adoption: The use of cover crops provides both economic benefits to our farmers. New approaches should be considered to provide streamlined enrollment, planning, and financial assistance to growers seeking to plant cover crops.
2. Ensure Access to the Highest Quality Cover Crop Seed: To ensure farmers have the high quality, resilient seed to meet their production goals, all cover crop seed should be tested by an accredited and audited seed lab and accompanied by a label conforming to state and federal laws.
3. Offer Flexibility in Conservation Program Delivery: Local field staff, crop advisors and other stakeholders need flexibility to make real-time decisions to modify cover crop seed selection. This allows farmers to meet the goals of the conservation program contract in a manner that recognizes the dynamics of local seed availability.
4. Enhance Carbon Sequestration, Land Resilience by Harnessing Plant Diversity: Programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provide immense value to the farmer, the land, and the rural communities they represent. To amplify the impact of these programs, additional practices should be offered for producers to increase legumes, forbs, and pollinators within their grazing systems. Additionally, USDA should utilize mid-contract management authority, which promotes plant diversity, soil health, and ecosystem resilience.

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Agriculture Research

Efficient and productive agriculture systems start with seed. The U.S. seed industry relies on the support of Farm Bill funding and programs to ensure continued leadership as the provider of the best seed to the world. U.S. seed companies, public and private scientists, and U.S. producers will continue to innovate to improve crops and production practices, thanks to ongoing and future cutting-edge research. Strong investments in research from discovery through development lead to better seed, which means better outcomes for farmers, consumers, and the environment, in the short and long-term. See testimony from U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee for more details on ASTA’s research priorities.

ASTA Farm Bill Recommendations:

1. Support Robust Funding for Primary USDA Research: The Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and the Economic Research Service (ERS) are critical drivers in supporting the advancement of U.S. agriculture through research, data collection, and innovation. The Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) also plays an important policy coordinating role and ensures that research priorities are elevated within U.S. government-wide initiatives.
   As our farmers work to provide the food, feed, fuel, and fiber to support the world, it’s crucial that we support
2. Increase Appropriations for National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS): Existing in some form since the late 1800s, the NPGS is a cornerstone of American agriculture and global food security. With a catalogue of over 600,000 plant genetic samples, both public and private plant breeders can request and obtain seeds possessing specific traits and combine them with modern seed varieties to achieve their desired results – such as higher yield, drought tolerance, pest resistance, and more.  A reauthorized Farm Bill should support the modernization of seed storage, characterization, data resources, and distribution capacity within the NPGS.
3. Reauthorize the Agriculture Genome to Phenome Initiative: The seed sector is often challenged to respond to evolving production challenges. ASTA supports the Agriculture Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI), which facilitates more responsive and predictive plant breeding, to ensure that farmers have ready access to the best seed available to meet their specific needs.
4. Continue Support for University Research: Land-Grant Universities are essential partners in agricultural research. Continued support is needed for the Hatch-Act, Smith-Lever, and McIntire Stennis Farm Bill authorities, which are key to U.S. research and development. According to the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), more than 69% of research and education facilities at land-grant universities colleges of agriculture are at the end of their life cycles. Robust support is needed through the Research Facilities Act in the Farm Bill to support facilities at, or reaching, the end of their life cycles.
5. Gather and Provide Access to Needed Cover Crop Data: The NASS Prospective Plantings survey should include data on cover crops – including acres and types of species planted last season, and intention to plant next season. This data would better equip the seed industry to forecast demand, ensuring that farmers have access to the high-quality, professionally produced cover crop seed they desire. ASTA supports the creation of a NIFA-funded clearing house on cover crop variety evaluation to provide farmers, crop advisors, technical service providers, and government agencies with the necessary information on the efficacy and benefits of different varieties or mixes of cover crops.
6. Reauthorize, Fully Fund the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AGARDA): Established in the 2018 Farm Bill, AGARDA works to develop new technologies and research tools to address challenges that threaten the stability and economic viability of agriculture in the United States. To continue driving research that addresses the challenges facing the food system, AGARDA should be reauthorized and fully funded.
7. Assess Domestic Vulnerability of U.S. Agricultural Production Areas: U.S. crop production is under increasing pressure from climate change and evolving pest and disease pressures. For example, unprecedented droughts in California and the Mississippi River basin, unseasonably warm winters, late frosts, wet springs, and unique phytosanitary issues like High Plains Virus and the Spotted Lantern Fly are changing how farmers plant seeds and manage agricultural production nationwide.
   The Federal government should commission and fast-track an assessment of threats to domestic crop production, to inform how to invest and prioritize R&D in the agricultural sector over the next 20 years As part of this vulnerability assessment, the report could identify opportunities to diversify U.S. agricultural production and partner with the private sector to increase investment in U.S. seed development to meet these needs. These activities could complement ongoing federal and state efforts to assess water- and land-use. The assessment could be managed by an independent authority, such as the National Academy of Sciences, and draw upon diverse scientific and national security expertise in the context of the crop sciences.

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Trade

Exports are a vital part of the U.S. economic engine, and agricultural exports, including seed, continue to be among its strongest components. To continue to expand U.S. agricultural exports, protect and create American jobs, strengthen farm income, and help offset the government-supported advantages afforded to international competitors, the Farm Bill must include investment toward public/private partnerships designed to support these efforts.

ASTA Farm Bill Recommendations:

1. Increase Funding for Agricultural Trade Promotion and Facilitation: As public/private partnerships designed to promote the exports of U.S. products, the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program are two proven tools U.S. agriculture has to compete in the international marketplace, and are even more important today. MAP and FMD have been tremendously successful and cost effective in helping maintain and expand U.S. agricultural exports, protect and create American jobs, strengthen farm income, and help offset the government-supported advantages afforded to international competitors
   For ASTA and its members representing the U.S. seed industry, MAP and FMD funds have supported U.S. leadership in key international venues to influence customs, intellectual property, labeling, marketing, phytosanitary, and biotechnology regulatory policies. Sustained, long-term capacity building with international partners through these funds, which the seed sector has matched with investments and in-kind contributions to amplify impact, is critical to the development of new markets.
   1. The Emerging Markets Program (EMP), designed to develop, maintain, or expand exports of U.S. agricultural commodities to emerging markets worldwide, has been a critical tool in supporting these efforts through cost-share funding in technical assistance activities. Additionally, the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) program has been instrumental in addressing export barriers for specialty crop commodities and is necessary in continuing to address sanitary and phytosanitary issues and technical barriers to trade that prohibit or threaten exports of U.S. specialty crops.
   2. Robust and increased funding is needed for USDA’s Agricultural Trade Promotion and Facilitation Programs. Sustained, long-term capacity building with international partners through these funds, which the seed sector has matched with investments and in-kind contributions to amplify impact, is critical to the development of new markets.

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Innovation

Continued innovation in plant breeding and seed-variety development are crucial to ensuring long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability. The seed industry is founded on innovation, and innovation is a part of everything we do – from plant breeding and seed treatments, to soil health and habitat restoration. See Dr. Margaret Leigh Worthington’s testimony to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics and Research for more details on the need for innovation.

ASTA Farm Bill Recommendations:

1. Create Systems that Foster Innovation: Operating under the Federal Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, USDA, EPA, and FDA provide oversight for products of biotechnology. The EPA rule on Plant-incorporated Protectants (PIPs) stifles innovation by applying different compliance requirements between conventionally bred PIPs and equivalent PIPs developed through gene editing. ASTA supports language in the Committee passed Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (H.R. 8467) that clarifies EPA’s regulatory scope and removes excessive regulatory burdens for plant breeders. Biostimulants are emerging and promising tools to support plant growth, conserve and replenish soil health, and improve water quality. ASTA supports the language in the Committee passed Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, which establishes a federal definition for biostimulants.

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Risk Management

To ensure economically sustainable domestic agriculture production, ASTA supports maintaining and strengthening Farm Bill commodity programs. We look to our grower partners in the commodity organizations and general farm organizations as they identify specific recommendations on risk management policies.

ASTA Farm Bill Recommendations:

1. Protect, Preserve, and Strengthen Farmer Safety Nets: Crop insurance enables farmers to rebound quickly after disaster and allows producers to continue to meet their credit obligations and to purchase ag inputs such as seed to plant a crop another year.Building on the successful Pandemic Cover Crop program, the Farm Bill should establish a formal program providing a $5 per acre rebate on crop insurance premiums for the use of cover crops. This program would allow growers to self-certify that they planted one or more cover crops and report acreage to FSA to be eligible for the premium discount.