July 21, 2023 - WASHINGTON – Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21) joined Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) and a bipartisan coalition in introducing the Growing Access to Environmental Sustainability (GATES) Act to reduce barriers that producers face in accessing agricultural conservation programs.

“Climate change is making it more difficult to farm and put food on America’s table. We need to ensure agricultural producers have access to conservation programs to improve agricultural productivity,” said Costa.  “I’m proud to co-lead this bill to support producers in sustainable resource management while improving operations on their farms.”

“Agricultural producers are on the frontlines of our conservation efforts, yet too often are unable to access federal programs designed to assist their work as good stewards of our environment,” said Panetta.  “I’m proud to author and introduce this bipartisan legislation that would waive certain limitations to expand the reach and effectiveness of these agriculture conservation programs.  By empowering our farmers with the conservation support they need, we can better safeguard the bounty that they help provide our country.”

“Our members and their workers provide more than half of America’s fresh fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts and yet are unable to access conservation funding that would help them adjust to erratic weather patterns by using conservation tools readily available to farmers who grow corn, soybean and other commodity crops,” said Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia. “We thank Rep. Panetta and his colleagues Rep. Costa, Rep. Caraveo, Rep. Rouzer, Rep. Duarte, Rep. Edwards, and Rep. Chavez-DeRemer and we look forward to working together to ensure equitable access to this funding so our members can continue to be responsible stewards of the land for future generations.” 

Current adjusted gross income (AGI) limitations disproportionately limit those producers with high input costs from participating in certain USDA conservation-focused programs. Those limitations have not kept pace with inflation.  These barriers reduce the overall impact of federal efforts to conserve our environment and empower farmers to mitigate the impact of climate change. 

The GATES Act would exempt the AGI limitation for farms that get 75% of their income from farming or related farming practices (agri-tourism, direct-to-consumer marketing of agricultural products, sale of agricultural equipment owned by person or entity, and other agriculture-related activities, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture). This would apply to the following conservation programs: Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).  

The bill is cosponsored by Reps. John Duarte (CA-13), Yadira Caraveo (CO-08), David Rouzer (NC-07), Jim Costa (CA-21), Chuck Edwards (NC-11), and Lori Michelle Chavez-DeRemer (OR-5). 

The bill is endorsed by the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, Western Growers, and California Farm Bureau.
Source: Congressman Jim Costa