Beginning Farmer & Rancher Opportunity Act Introduced in Senate

Minnesota Tops Nation in Number of Lawmakers Supporting Bill

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

11/10/11
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Legislation that will help the next generation of farmers and ranchers create jobs and other economic activity in rural communities was introduced in the U.S. Senate Thursday by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin. This comes two weeks after the House introduced its version of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011.

Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken co-sponsored the Senate bill. In the House, Minnesota Representatives Tim Walz and Betty McCollum are the lead sponsor and a co-sponsor, respectively. This makes Minnesota tops in the nation in terms of the number of members of Congress who are initial supporters of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act.

This legislation is a comprehensive policy approach to helping the next generation of farmers and ranchers take advantage of growing opportunities in agriculture. The legislation includes support for beginning farmer and rancher training programs, beginning farmer lending and savings provisions and conservation incentives for new farmers and ranchers.

A central component of the bill is continued backing for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), which supports community-based organizations that offer beginning farmer training programs. Since it was launched in 2009, demand for BFRDP has far outstripped resources available, with hundreds of organizations applying each year. To date 105 organizations and institutions have received support through the BFRDP to work with new farmers. In the past three years the program has provided $54 million to groups in 48 states.

Adam Warthesen, a policy organizer for the Minnesota-based Land Stewardship Project (LSP), said LSP and other groups working with beginning farmers through such initiatives as BFRDP welcome this new set of Congressional proposals.

“Through our Farm Beginnings training program, LSP is coming into contact with an increasing number of people interested in launching new farming operations,” he said. “The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act can help these beginners get started and fuel economic activity in rural communities. This is a smart investment and jobs creator.”

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NOTE: Below is a full list of Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 Senate co-sponsors:

While the Senate File is in the process of being designated and posted at Library of Congress a House version of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 (H.F. 3236) is available online here.

A short summary of the bill and background information is at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_bfroa.html.