Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side

This briefing by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) provides a side-by-side comparison of current law and the House version of the Farm Bill regarding the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP). It details the office's mission to support urban and indoor farming, its climate-related benefits, and proposed legislative changes to its funding, grant eligibility, and pilot project scopes.

• The USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP), established by the 2018 Farm Bill, supports urban agriculture including rooftop farms and community gardens. It is led by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and includes representatives from the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Farm Service Agency.
• Urban agriculture provides climate resilience by filtering stormwater runoff during heavy precipitation and reducing urban temperatures during extreme heat. Additionally, the Composting and Food Waste Reduction (CFWR) cooperative agreements aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by diverting food waste from landfills.
• In 2022, the USDA invested $14.2 million in UAIP grants and $10.2 million in CFWR cooperative agreements. While the 2018 Farm Bill authorized $25 million in discretionary annual funding through fiscal year (FY) 2023, actual appropriations were $8.5 million in FY 2023 and $7 million in FY 2024.
• The House version of the Farm Bill proposes expanding the UAIP Director's responsibilities to include providing technical assistance for business incorporation, managing farm tract numbers for smaller noncontiguous parcels, and promoting conservation techniques that address the subsurface of urban land and stormwater runoff.
• The House version suggests expanding the eligibility for grants and cooperative agreements to include agricultural cooperatives, producer networks, associations, or other agricultural business entities. It also proposes allowing eligible entities to provide subgrants to urban and innovative producers.
• Proposed changes in the House version would expand the scope of composting and food waste pilot projects to include the construction of anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy projects, food-to-feed projects, and at-scale composting. It also adds Tribal governments as eligible entities for these cooperative agreements.
• The House version proposes extending the authorization of appropriations for the UAIP from fiscal year 2023 to 2029, and extends the reporting requirements for the Urban and Suburban County Committees pilot program and the Advisory Committee through 2029.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2024). Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side. https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Office-of-Urban-Agriculture-and-Innovative-Production-UAIP.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side. 2024. https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Office-of-Urban-Agriculture-and-Innovative-Production-UAIP.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side |date=16 July 2024 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Office-of-Urban-Agriculture-and-Innovative-Production-UAIP.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2024farm, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Office-of-Urban-Agriculture-and-Innovative-Production-UAIP.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }