09/01/2026
Organic farming isn't getting the federal funding it deserves. Right now, the Senate is deciding whether that changes.
Communities near industrial agriculture live with real health risks every day: pesticide exposure in the ground they walk on, the water they drink, the air they breathe. Farmworkers and rural residents in these areas have higher rates of cancer and respiratory disease, and children face developmental problems.
Organic farming avoids that exposure entirely. And there's an economic case too: counties with the most organic farms have lower poverty rates and higher household incomes than the national average.
Federal support hasn't caught up to either of those facts. In 2018, the last time a full Farm Bill passed, organic received just $180 million of the $21 billion spent annually on farm programs. That's less than 1%. Organic farmers are feeling that neglect directly: payments they were promised have sat delayed for nearly a year before finally going out, leaving small farms in serious financial hardship.
It's time our rural communities and organic farmers get the support they deserve — and right now, the Senate is still shaping what that support looks like.
Contact Idaho's senators and tell them organic farming deserves real support & learn more here: https://advocacy.organicconsumers.org/page/93734/action/1
