Food & Water Stories

What You Need to Know About the Farm Bill

Two cowboys riding horses on a ranch.
Cowboys on Parker Ranch Bill and son Tom Parker sold their ranch's development rights to TNC in 2008. Parker Ranch and two other holdings are part of 270,000 acres now protected. © Ian Shive

The Farm Bill is America's largest investment in the voluntary conservation, restoration and management of America’s private lands.

What is the Farm Bill? 

The Farm Bill provides voluntary, incentive-based programs that help farmers, ranchers and other landowners address climate change while conserving their land and way of life. It's the single largest source of U.S. federal funding for conserving, restoring and managing private land, including grasslands, forests, ranchlands and croplands.

The Farm Bill provides $6 billion annually for conservation. From incentivizing climate-smart agricultural practices to opening doors for permanent conservation through agricultural conservation easements, this critical bipartisan legislation benefits every single state in the country. Over 70% of the land in the lower 48 states is privately owned, making it eligible for Farm Bill programs that help spur healthier soils, cleaner water, carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat conservation. The Farm Bill remains one of the country's most successful and important conservation programs. 

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Urge Congress to pass a Farm Bill that supports conservation and communities.

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How the Farm Bill Saved the Hatcher Ranch (10:20) For Treg Hatcher, his ranch in Kansas means everything to him. So, when severe drought and a prairie dog invasion left him on the verge of selling their family ranch, he was devastated. But assistance from the Farm Bill’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program helped turn it all around.

The Farm Bill Impacts All Americans

  • Green icon of trees.

    140M

    Through the Farm Bill, farmers and ranchers have voluntarily enrolled 140 million acres in conservation programs

  • Green icon of three people.

    46M

    The agriculture industry supports millions of jobs in the U.S.

  • Green icon of land with fence.

    70%

    In the lower 48 states, 70% of land is privately owned and eligible for Farm Bill programs

  • Green icon of a tractor.

    2M

    There are more than 2 million farms covering 475 million acres of land in the U.S.

Landscape view of a large herd of cattle being driven across rolling green hills.
Cattle Drive The Farm Bill provides a range of conservation programs for farmers and ranchers including loans and grants, training and education and conservation incentives to help improve and protect the health of their land. © Charlie Messerly/TNC
Aerial view looking straight down at a green tractor plowing an agricultural field.
Water for Life Rice is harvested at Evans Farms in Symonds, Mississippi, one of many family farms that rely on steady water supplies from the Mississippi River for their livelihood. The Farm Bill should prioritize floodplain easements and increase drought resilience to reduce risks to farmers and the environment. © Rory Doyle

Next steps for the Farm Bill

The Farm Bill is one of our biggest opportunities to make meaningful, substantial gains for conservation. 

The 2018 Farm Bill was the most conservation-focused yet, increasing funding for easements that help farmers conserve their lands, enacting new policies to improve the management of private forest lands, and many other steps.

Congress only renews the Farm Bill every five years, so we need to build on the success of 2018 to prioritize conservation while supporting the rural communities that care for and work on these lands.

In November 2023, Congress voted to extend the current Farm Bill for one year – until September 30, 2024. Farm Bill programs have been in limbo since the bill expired at the end of September so this extension ensures there will not be a gap in funding for programs that support farmers, ranchers and conservation efforts across the country. 

As Congress continues to debate these vital measures, we urge them to invest in a Farm Bill that will support healthy food and soils, clean water, strong communities and a robust economy.

A person carried a tray while walking through agricultural crops, including red peppers, which are growing in the foreground.
The Blaney Farm The agricultural sector currently makes up over 10 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas pollution. Climate-smart agricultural practices and programs supported in the Farm Bill help farmers tackle environmental and water pollution, while also cutting planet-warming emissions by providing increased technical support, funding and training to help farmers meet the challenges of the climate crisis. © Alex Snyder/TNC

Critical Farm Bill Programs and Policies

Two people ride in a flat-bottomed boat on the flat waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
CLEAN WATERS Keeping waters clean is one of the aims of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. © Jason Houston

Regional Conservation Partnership Program

Increasing the restoration and sustainable use of soil, water and other natural resources on a scale large enough to make a significant impact is daunting at times—but it’s important work that benefits us all. The best approach is often working with partners in strategic areas to address the most critical conservation needs with as many hands as possible.

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), introduced in the 2014 Farm Bill, makes this approach possible. Starting with federal resources, RCPP brings new partners and new funding to the conservation table, maximizing the impact.

RCPP empowers communities and drives public-private partnerships to find local, innovative solutions to complex natural resource challenges for watersheds and landscapes. To date, RCPP has mobilized more than 2,000 conservation partners who have invested about $1.4 billion, doubling the amount of federal funding for these projects.

A lush, green and wild meadow with vibrant wildflowers.
Safeguarding Lands Conservation easements are legally binding agreements that keep property in private hands and are important for safeguarding wildlife habitat and other natural resources. © Rick McEwan

Conservation Easement Programs

Conservation easements are one of the most potent and practical tools available for the permanent conservation of private lands in the United States. They are voluntary, legally binding agreements that limit certain types of uses or prevent development from taking place on a piece of property now and in the future, protecting the property’s ecological and open space values.

For more than 40 years, easements have protected wildlife habitat and open space from development, kept land in private hands and generated significant benefits for the public.

The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in the Farm Bill includes two vital components: Agricultural Land Easements and Wetlands Reserve Easements. Agricultural Land Easements protect the long-term viability of the nation’s food supply by preventing the conversion of productive working lands to non-agricultural uses, while Wetlands Reserve Easements improve water quality and supply, provide habitat for fish and wildlife and support outdoor recreation. 

A close-up of a person's hand holding rich, brown soil.
It's In Our Hands Improving soil health Is one of the most important things we can do—for all of us. © Devan King/The Nature Conservancy

Improve Soil Health

Healthy soil is the cornerstone of life on Earth. It facilitates ecosystem diversity, amplifies food production, allows for effective water filtration and storage and captures soil carbon, which helps reduce the impacts of increasingly variable weather patterns.

The Farm Bill helps improve soil health by increasing the number of acres managed with soil health and nutrient stewardship practices through programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

Suppose farmers can manage nutrients more efficiently to reduce runoff and restore wetlands to capture nutrients escaping their fields. In that case, it will lead to cleaner waterways and drinking water. And, since excessive nutrient runoff from farms and other sources contributes to algal blooms, it would slow the growth of dead zones that contaminate drinking water and suffocate aquatic life.

An aerial view of a river winding through a green landscape.
Louisiana The Farm Bill has improved water quality and can help farmers and other water users continue to find solutions that are both sustainable and best suited to their local needs. © Carlton Ward Jr/TNC