Southern Great Plains FAQs – Farm Bill Roundtables 2021-2022

This region largely encapsulates Tribes and intertribal organizations from the central U.S. south of the Dakotas. Roundtable attendees included Tribal government leaders and their agriculture and land staff. But in many instances, individual producers working their lands inside Tribal jurisdictions across the region provided their perspectives as well.  

FAQs:  

Question/comment:

USDA should provide more funding resources to the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program originally authorized by the American Rescue Plan. 

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• The NFBC is encouraging draft language for the Farm Bill that would expand Tribal-inspected meat and would allow for interstate sales.

Question:

Is there the possibility to provide financial and personnel support for first-time, minority farmers? The startup costs are prohibitive for anyone who is beginning without familial assistance.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• The NFBC 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.
• The NFBC has called for allowing producers to utilize a variety of means to meet the three-year requirement to participate in the beginning farmers and ranchers program.

Question:

Is there a way to lessen the administrative burden and complexity of certification processes for Farm to School programs? It should not take multiple years of requirements to get locally-produced foods into local schools because of USDA bureaucracy.

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. 
• USDA 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:

For the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) programs to work in Indian Country, there needs to be a Tribal-specific cost list and approach to projects. Many Tribal conservation projects can’t get bids because no contractors want to do the work, and leasing timelines with other federal agencies do not match up with USDA’s.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• 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.  
• One recurring piece of feedback from many Indian Country producers in this region was 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. Tribal leaders, producers and interested parties submitted their input on these changes to the existing regulations before December 29, 2023, and the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative drafted a briefing doc.

Question/Comment:

Is there a way to clarify the processes Tribes must go through for Agriculture Resource Management Plans (ARMP)? Tribes that don’t have agriculture-focused departments are left in a bad position to meet their requirements.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• The NFBC has called on Congress to require the Bureau of Indian Affairs to coordinate with USDA in all aspects to support a Tribe intending to draft and implement an ARMP authorized under the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management Act of 1993 (AIARMA). The BIA, working in concert with USDA, should prioritize finding resources to assist Tribes (including technical assistance resources) in establishing plans authorized under the act. The BIA should be required to accept any conservation plan or forest management plan conducted by the NRCS or United States Forest Service (USFS) agencies within USDA as equivalent to any environmental assessment deemed necessary in implementing the AIARMA. 
• The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative has staff experienced with supporting Tribes in their ARMP issues and can be called upon as a free resource. 

Question/Comment:

Is there a way to get USDA Rural Development to become more realistic in cost matches when it comes to Tribes who apply for grants? Currently, outside of a few wealthy Tribes, the matches are unachievable and therefore go unused.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• RD offers a broad array of loans, loan guarantees, and grants where barriers to Indian Country could be reduced or eliminated through expanded implementation of the Substantially Underserved Trust Area (SUTA) provision. The change would allow the waiver of matching requirements for projects funded through RD, which can be a significant barrier to socially disadvantaged applicant participation in RD business and infrastructure projects. Expanding the reach of SUTA can provide important support to Tribal citizens living in remote, rural, isolated communities who are in dire need of RD programs. This is why the NFBC has called on Congress to expand Rural Development’s SUTA designation to all programs at RD.  

Question/Comment:

What programs or funds are available to train Tribal youth in agriculture? Many of our agriculture producers are aging out and there’s not a lot of teaching opportunities for youth.

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• The NFBC has several proposed solutions for the 2023 Farm Bill that would possibly open opportunities for more Native-centric instruction. They have called on the Agricultural Research Service to launch research projects focused the role that traditional knowledge plays in the environmental, natural resource and ecological arenas as well as the food science, nutrition, and health arenas. The coalition is also calling for a separate funding authority like the Sun Grant or Sea Grant authorities allowing multi-Tribal, multi-state, and consortium approaches to meet the research, education, and extension needs of Indian Country. Finally, grants for youth organizations must include the provision of grants for youth organizations in Indian Country that focus on developing food and agriculture leadership and scientific knowledge programs. 
• The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative has several youth-focused programs to give Tribal youth an opportunity to learn more about Indigenous agriculture and nutrition. This includes a fully paid, weeklong trip to the University of Arkansas to meet fellow Tribal agriculture-interested youth from across the country at the annual IFAI Youth Summit. The Intertribal Agriculture Council also has a host of regularly updated scholarship and youth programming opportunities for Tribal youth interested in agriculture. In addition, the Native American Agriculture Fund has numerous opportunities for college-aged Tribal citizens interested in learning more about food and nutrition policies.  

Question/Comment:

Many Tribes in this region are already self-governance in other federal departments, how likely is it that authority is extended into the next Farm Bill for USDA?

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• The request for full self-governance authority in USDA is a priority for the Native Farm Bill Coalition. 638 pilot projects in forestry and local sourcing of food distribution programs have been a success, but the NFBC is requesting full self-governance authority across the whole of USDA, including the establishment of an office of self-government. 

Question/Comment: 

Are there resources to combat prairie dog infestations?

Answer to meeting attendees: 

• Currently, there is no specific statutory language focused on changing this definition. However, USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services (APHIS) does acknowledge their role in competition for forage in pastures and grazing lands. Tribal farmers and ranchers are encouraged to reach out to their local or state APHIS office.  
• There is a precedent for mitigation on this specific animal at APHIS as well. A 2020 environmental assessment from APHIS highlighted the use of an Integrated Wildlife Damage Management (IWDM) approach to managing a prairie dog colony in Nebraska in order to reduce wildlife damage. 

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