Report

Farm Viability

July 2022
Authors
Francine Miller, Emily J. Spiegel, Esther Akwii, Emma Scott, Emily M. Broad Leib, Claire Child,
Browse Resources

The next farm bill should accelerate progress by addressing the barriers impeding a more diverse and robust rural economy. This report outlines Goals and Recommendations, including specific Legislative and Administrative Opportunities for change, tailored to advancing these objectives in the 2023 Farm Bill.

For references and endnotes, please refer to the PDF version of this document.

View PDF

Executive Summary

The farm bill is a wide-ranging, omnibus legislative endeavor that Congress undertakes every five years. It is the primary vehicle for changing federal food and agriculture policy and addresses issues including agricultural support programs, conservation, nutrition, and much more. Each new farm bill presents a unique occasion to promote a healthy agricultural sector and offer support to producers, particularly small and mid-sized farms.

Small and mid-sized farms undergird a robust and sustainable agricultural economy and contribute significantly to the economic vitality of rural communities. However, the number of these farms has declined over the past few decades, and the principal operators of smaller farms can rarely earn a living from farming alone. Structural changes in U.S. agriculture have shifted the benefits of farm bill programs toward fewer, larger operations. The consolidation of agricultural production, wealth, land, and federal support has handicapped smaller farms.

In response to these trends, recent farm bills have made modest investments to enhance the viability of small and mid-sized farms. Now, more drastic changes are required. The next farm bill should accelerate progress by addressing the barriers impeding a more diverse and robust rural economy. This Report outlines Goals and Recommendations, including specific Legislative and Administrative Opportunities for change, tailored to advancing these objectives in the 2023 Farm Bill.

Find the complete set of reports from the Farm Bill Legal Enterprise at farmbilllaw.org.

Acknowledgements

This report was produced by the Farm Bill Law Enterprise. The following students and summer interns, listed in alphabetical order by institution, co-authored substantial portions of the report: Eben Blake, Henry Cordova, Jenny Glazier, Ethan Harper, Holly Russo, Scott Sanderson, and Stefane Victor, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic; and Jacqueline Cuellar, Vermont Law School Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. Additionally, the following FBLE-affiliated individuals supported the production of this report through their ideas, research, review, and/or feedback: Jonathan Brown, Ava Cilia, Merve Ciplak, Libby Dimenstein, Josh Galperin, Stephanie Kelemen, Daniel Kim, Lee Miller, and Margot Pollans.

We thank the following people for reviewing this report and providing feedback. The reviewers do not necessarily concur with the report’s recommendations. Cris Coffin (National Agricultural Land Network Director and Senior Policy Advisor, American Farmland Trust), Jonathan Coppess (Assistant Professor and Director, Gardner Agricultural Policy Program, University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign), Eric Deeble (Policy Director, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), Austin Frerick (Deputy Director, Thurman Arnold Project at Yale University), Billy Hackett (Policy Specialist, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), Ferd Hoefner (Principal, Farm, Food, Environment Policy Consulting), Aaron John (Program Manager, Challenging Corporate Power, Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI – USA)), Tim Fink (Policy Director, American Farmland Trust), Claire Kelloway (Food Program Manager at Open Markets Institute), Wes King (Senior Policy Specialist, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), Emily Liss (Federal Policy Associate, American Farmland Trust), and Jeff Schahczenski (Agricultural and Natural Resource Economist, National Center for Appropriate Technology).

We also extend thanks to the following for their contributions to previous FBLE reports: Abraham Williamson, Alexandra Oakley Schluntz, Alexandra Smith, Alyssa Chan, Amy Chyao, Andrew Norkiewicz, Annika Nielsen, Carrie Scrufari, Christine Kwon, Claire Horan, Danielle Haley, David Solimeno, Drake Carden, Emily Kenyon, Goliath Davis, Gregory Muren, Irène Grialou, Jack Zietman, Jennifer Benson, Jonathan Kim, Joshua Komarovsky, Julia Nitsche, Kaitlin Beach, Laurie Ristino, Liz Hanson, Madeleine Daepp, Mary Stottele, Michelle Nowlin, Nathan A. Rosenberg, Nathaniel Leamy, Nathaniel Levy, Paavani Garg, Renner Walker, Sara Dewey, Sarah Munger, Shaun Goho, Stevenson Smith, William Liang, and Zach Lankford.

Report layout and design: Najeema Holas-Huggins

Finally, we are grateful for the financial support of the GRACE Communications Foundation and Charles M. Haar Food and Health Law and Policy Fund.

Suggested Citation

Esther Akwii et al., Farm Bill Law Enterprise, Farm Viability (July 1, 2022), https://www.farmbilllaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Farm-Viability-Report.pdf.

Francine Miller

Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems

Fran Miller LLM’17 works on issues related to farmland access, particularly for historically marginalized communities, through the Farmland Access Legal Toolkit and serves private clients regarding collaborative and community land ownership and business formation. An Adjunct Professor of Vermont Law and Graduate School, Fran supervises students in the Food and Agriculture Clinic and leads a variety of research projects. She spent many years as a trademark and copyright lawyer in New York City before earning a Master of Laws (LLM) in Food and Agriculture Law at VLGS. She moved to Vermont in 2019 to work at CAFS.

Emily Spiegel

Senior Research Fellow, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems

Emily Spiegel leads CAFS projects related to food systems biodiversity and natural resources. Before joining CAFS in 2017, Emily worked at the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic. She earned her JD from Duke University School of Law. A returned Peace Corps volunteer from Jordan, Emily’s background focuses on agriculture and international development. She has previous experience with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Esther Akwii

LLM Fellow, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems

Esther Akwii LLM’20 held a position at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy, before coming to Vermont Law School to earn an LLM in Food and Agricultural Law. She currently works as a Legal Researcher at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.

Emma Scott

Director, Food and Agriculture Clinic, Vermont Law and Graduate School

Emma Scott is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Food and Agriculture Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School. Her work focuses on food system workers and food system policy at the federal, state, and local level. Previously she served as the Associate Director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. She received her BS in Social Sciences with a concentration in Cross-Cultural Studies and International Development from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and her JD from Harvard Law School.

Emily Broad Leib

Director, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic

Emily Broad Lieb is a Clinical Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic. She received her BA from Columbia University and her JD from Harvard Law School.

Claire Child

Former Assistant Director, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems

Claire Child MELP’16 formerly served as Assistant Director for the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. She now works as a Grants and Contracts Administrator at the University of Virginia.

Related Resources

Equity in Agricultural Production & Governance
Equity in Agricultural Production & Governance »
The 2023 Farm Bill: FBLE Recommendations Overview
The 2023 Farm Bill: FBLE Recommendations Overview »
Productivity and Risk Management
Productivity and Risk Management »