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Send a Message to Your Members of Congress TODAY Supporting Farmer-to-Farmer Learning in the next Farm Bill

Members of Congress are currently negotiating a new Farm Bill. Meanwhile, record drought and flooding across the country are threatening farm viability, rural economies, and our food supply. Even with historic investment into traditional NRCS conservation programs, farmers still face many barriers to adopting the critical conservation practices that will help them stay viable and build resilience to climate change.

Farmer-to-farmer education is essential to overcoming the barriers that can prevent farmers from trying these new practices by ensuring the exchange of practical information from a trusted source on the benefits and challenges they may encounter. A recent AFT survey found that over 50% of farmers surveyed learned about conservation directly from farmers they already know, compared with 20% from USDA staff. Many producers are eager to learn from and teach other farmers about conservation, but they don’t know where to start.

In 2023, Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act in the Senate, and this year Representatives Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) and Andrea Salinas (D-OR) introduced this bill in the House to augment existing farmer-to-farmer education and build capacity for new learning opportunities—particularly for historically marginalized communities.

Please fill out the form below TODAY to send a letter to your members of Congress asking them to include funding and support for farmer-to-farmer education in the next Farm Bill as a key strategy to help producers increase long-term adoption of these essential practices.

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Send a Message to Your Members of Congress TODAY Supporting Farmer-to-Farmer Learning in the next Farm Bill!

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Subject: I Urge You to Support Farmer-to-Farmer Conservation Education in the next Farm Bill

Message:

Thank you for all that you do to serve your constituents and support a sustainable and secure farm and food system. I am writing today as a constituent to ask you to advocate for the inclusion of support for farmer-to-farmer conservation education in the next Farm Bill. One pathway for doing so is detailed in the Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act (S.2614/H.R. 8488) recently introduced by Representatives Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) and Andrea Salinas (D-OR) in the house and introduced in 2023 by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) in the Senate. This key provision was also included in Chairwoman Stabenow’s Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, (Sec. 2505).

Record drought and flooding across the country are threatening farm viability, rural economies, and our food supply. Meanwhile, farmers face many barriers to adopting the critical conservation practices that will help them stay viable and build resilience to extreme weather. Farmer-to-farmer education is essential to overcoming the barriers that can prevent farmers from trying a new practice by ensuring the exchange of practical information from a trusted source on the benefits and challenges of new practice adoption. This underutilized strategy builds on existing local leadership and provides the essential missing complement to traditional USDA NRCS technical and financial assistance that will ensure farmers achieve long-term, successful conservation practice adoption. A recent survey conducted by American Farmland Trust found that over 50% of the farmers surveyed learned about conservation directly from farmers they already know, compared with 20% from NRCS. Many more are eager to learn from and teach other farmers about conservation, but they don’t know where to start.

The Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act (S.2614/H.R. 8488) would augment existing farmer-to-farmer education and build capacity for new learning opportunities—particularly for historically marginalized communities—through the use of cooperative agreements and existing funding.

I urge you to co-sponsor this legislation and communicate to the agriculture committee chair and ranking member that you support its goal of enabling additional farmer-to-farmer learning in the next Farm Bill. Thank you for your time and consideration of this important issue!

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Send a Message to Your Members of Congress TODAY Supporting Farmer-to-Farmer Learning in the next Farm Bill

Send a Message to Your Members of Congress TODAY Supporting Farmer-to-Farmer Learning in the next Farm Bill!

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