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    Home»Blog»Industry News»Farm Bill Creates Office for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production
    Industry News

    Farm Bill Creates Office for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production

    By Brian FilipowichDecember 21, 2018Updated:February 5, 20193 Comments2 Mins Read
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    The Aquaponics Association tours Trifecta Ecosystems, an indoor aquaponics farm in Meriden, CT, during their yearly conference.
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    The 2018 Farm Bill (H.R.2) passed both the House and Senate and will be signed into law by the President imminently. The Bill creates the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production which should boost aquaponics, hydroponics, and other sustainable growing methods.

    The Bill establishes the Office “to encourage and promote urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural production
    practices.” Related to this new Office, the Bill:

    • Provides for the assignment of a farm number for rooftop, indoor, and other urban farms.
    • Provides authority to award competitive grants to operate community gardens or
      nonprofit farms, educate a community on food systems, nutrition, environmental impacts,
      and agricultural production, and help offset start-up costs for new and beginning farmers.
    • Establishes an Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Advisory Committee.
    • Establishes pilot projects to increase compost and reduce food waste, and create urban
      and suburban county committees.

    In addition to the Office for Urban Agriculture, the Farm Bill also establishes the Urban, Indoor, and Other Emerging Agriculture Production Research, Education, and Extension Initiative. This Initiative does the following:

    • Authorizes competitive research and extension grants to support research, education, and
      extension activities for the purposes of enhancing urban, indoor, and other emerging
      agricultural production.
    • Provides $4 million mandatory for each fiscal year 2019-2023.
    • Requires the Secretary to conduct a census of urban, indoor, and other emerging
      agricultural production.

    Unfortunately, there is plenty of bad along with the good: this Farm Bill continues negative policies that stifle smaller growers and wastefully support large industrial monoculture growers. Nevertheless, it is welcome to see the Federal Government acknowledging the need for investment in urban and sustainable growing.

    Hopefully the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production can meaningfully support the expansion of aquaponics!

    Brian Filipowich serves as Chairman of the Aquaponics Association

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    Aquaponics Association Business Hydroponics Research US Department of Agriculture
    Brian Filipowich

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    3 Comments

    1. Spencer Curry on December 21, 2018 1:23 pm

      Woah, cool to see a picture from our farm make it out there with the farm bill news! Looking for more info about innovative indoor and aquaponic farming? Check us out: trifectaecosystems.com

      Reply
      • urbanagnews on January 7, 2019 2:06 am

        Very cool!

        Reply
    2. Wes King on January 23, 2019 12:23 pm

      FYI – some of your content in this story is inaccurate, it reflects more of what was in the Senate Farm Bill not the final 2018 Farm Bill. The final conference report did not include the FSA farm numbers directive, FSA is already working on it so they didn’t need to put it in the final bill; and the research, education and extension grant program did not receive $4 mill per year but a lump sum of $10 to be spent over 5 years however the USDA chooses.

      Reply
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