Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains FAQS – Farm Bill Roundtables 2021-2022

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Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming) FAQS – Farm Bill Roundtables 2021-2022

Attendees at these meetings hailed from Tribal communities across many of the northern Great Plains and north central Rockies. They included many Tribal leaders and individual producers with experience in the ranching and grazing sectors, both for beef and bison.  

FAQs:  

Question:

Why is there no Indian preference hiring for USDA jobs on or near Indian reservations or for those positions that directly serve Native communities? There is a USDA office in every county in the United States, including Rural Development, FSA and NRCS offices but even on remote reservations where those jobs are filled, there aren’t people with lived or work experience in Indian Country on them.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

Question/comment:

Most bison meat processed and put into USDA commodity packages is from non-Tribal operations that can afford the higher overhead that non-amenable species inspection services cost. This has stacked the deck against Tribal bison operations attempting to put local bison from Tribal jurisdictions into local schools through programs like Farm to School, and other commodity programs that serve Tribal people.  

Answer to meeting attendees: 

  • USDA has recently announced a partnership with four Tribal and Local producers for an interagency pilot project intended to offer more localized ground bison meat for Tribal communities to be accessed through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservation (FPDPIR). With this pilot, USDA will look to better understand what changes are needed to support meat purchasing from local, small, and mid-sized bison herd managers and directly deliver them to local Tribal communities. 

Question/Comment:

NRCS needs to consider traditional conservation management practices by Tribes and Tribal peoples as legitimate as those currently approved.

Answer to meeting attendees:

  • The NFBC has called for the development of a new section of the Conservation Title to explicitly allow Tribes within a state or region to develop traditional, ecological knowledge-based (TEK) technical standards for all conservation projects allowed under the Farm Bill. This new section would codify current NRCS practices that encourage TEK-based conservation and would further recognize the fact that Tribal jurisdiction and use of traditional practices to improve conservation project implementation are decisions best left to Tribal governments and individual Indian producers who live on those lands and are engaged in ongoing activities that are designed to improve environmental conditions, habitats, and their lands for agricultural purposes. 
  • In addition, the NFBC has called for the inclusion of Tribes as entities that can identify priority resource concerns alongside states. By amending this definition, Indian Country’s natural resource needs would no longer be wholly left out of this determination. This would facilitate more Tribally driven concerns to be addressed through NRCS funding, such as environmental disaster mitigation and Climate Smart investments for conservation improvements to infrastructure.  

Question:

Is there a way to change the definition of ecological disasters to include prairie dog infestations?

Answer to meeting attendees: 

Question:

What do local, Tribal beef producers have to do to get their products into the commodities or school food programs?

Answer to meeting attendees: 

  • This was a constant piece of feedback from many Tribal ranchers in this region who noted that the burden of getting their local beef into school feeding programs in their communities was excessive. As a result of this feedback, there is new legislation introduced that, if signed into law, will begin a pilot program specifically funding 10 Tribal entities to operate four local feeding programs in Tribal community facilities.  

Question:

Are there resources to learn more about FSA county committee elections? Specifically when it comes to the unique Tribal aspects of these entities.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

  • The NFBC has several recommendations on updates to the current County Committee system. Normal grazing period and drought monitor intensity determinations should be amended to set at different rates for Tribal lands established by the national FSA office. These should be established at reasonable rates to Tribal lands, not to the county. Changes to normal carrying capacity or grazing periods related to Tribal lands should be also established by the national FSA office. 
  • Many majority Native American counties don’t have Native people voted onto the committee because they are not systematically included in the balloting and nomination process. Some experts think FSA should be required to conduct an assessment based on Census data and Census of Agriculture data to determine county FSA populations and in consultation with Tribal governments, ensure that Tribal members are notified of the opportunity for county committee membership. Also some think, FSA should require all county committees in predominately Tribal population areas and/or Tribal land base areas be predominately Native in membership. 
  • All Tribal citizens residing in the Local Administrative Area (LAA) where a Tribe holds land through outright ownership, in trust status or allotted lands, are authorized to vote in the County Committee elections. Tribal governments or local Tribal organizations are encouraged to nominate candidates in the elections. The Indigenous Food and Agriculture has resources available on the Tribal aspects of this, but local FSA offices should have access to the Departmental regulations and rules on Tribal participation in these elections. 

Question:

Where can producers in our area get marketing assistance from USDA – AMS to expand potential markets for Tribal products?

Answer to meeting attendees: 

  • USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has the Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity-Technical Assistance Program  (MPPTA) so that processors and producers have access to a full range of technical assistance. AMS established a nationwide MPPTA network that focuses on 4 key areas, including supply chain development to support the development and maintenance of successful supply chain and marketing relationships.  
  • Any Tribal producers that want to expand their reach to international markets should contact the Intertribal Agriculture Council’s American Indian Food Program. 

Question:

Are there plans to address the need for funding to increase affordable, rural housing opportunities on reservations?

Answer to meeting attendees: 

  • Producers from across this region noted that they were often unable to get technical assistance from USDA staff because many positions remained unfilled by the Department. Affordable housing, even for federal employees making good salary, is often limited in geographically vast and remote Tribal reservations.  
  • The NFBC has recommended that Congress ensure Tribal governments are eligible for USDA housing programs as direct recipients. Tribal access to a range of USDA housing programs would significantly impact the capacity of Tribes to deliver affordable housing services. Specific programs that should include direct Tribal access include Section 515 Rural Housing Loans; Section 502 Direct Housing Loans; Section 504 Very Low Income Home Repair Grant and Loan Program; Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants; Section 538 Guarantee Program; and USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Services. 

Question/Comment:

This region continues to face difficulties in getting young producers interested and started in farming and ranching. Banks and lending agencies don’t want to touch trust land and costs are too high for young producers to get started. Land access has made producing very difficult.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

  • The Native Farm Bill Coalition has called for priority for beginning farmers and ranchers seeking to establish or reestablish working land activities on Tribal lands. Due to the prolonged periods that Tribal government-held and individual Indian-owned lands have been under-enrolled in conservation programs, all Tribal lands falling under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribal governments, Tribal agricultural entities, and individual Tribal producers, landowners, or land operators should receive mandatory priority consideration for all conservation programs.  
  • USDA is making inroads in this area through its Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The program provides grants to organizations for education, mentoring and technical assistance initiatives. Organizations like the Intertribal Agriculture Council are at the forefront of helping Tribal citizens navigate these programs and have technical assistance specialists available across the country 

Question:

How can producers deal with ineligibility when trying to access NRCS programs because BIA fails to process approvals due to staffing shortfalls or delays?

Answer to meeting attendees: 

  • One recurring piece of feedback from many Indian Country producers in this region were ongoing challenges of BIA agricultural leasing regulations and timelines that undermined the ability of producers to access USDA programs, specifically in the conservation sector. Conservation easements on Tribal lands remain an ongoing challenge. Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) programs based on the granting of conservation easements will not work on Tribal lands, as the BIA will not approve of the granting of easements on these unique lands. 
  • While not specifically focused on this topic as a whole, the Department of Interior (DOI) is revising its agricultural leasing regulations found at 25 CFR Part 162 Subpart B  to promote Tribal self-determination through the management of Tribal agricultural and renewable resources.  The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative provided briefing information.

Click the button below to see an infographic snapshot of issues raised and marker bills introduced in anticipation for the next Farm Bill.