CAFF Strongly Opposes Reckless Budget Bill That Threatens Farmers, Families & Our Food System

Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), in solidarity with our partners at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), stands in firm opposition to the partisan budget reconciliation bill in Congress. This so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” is a reckless piece of legislation that threatens to dismantle critical support systems for both farmers and vulnerable families, while further enriching the wealthiest corporate interests at the expense of small and mid-sized farms, rural communities, and the very integrity of our nation’s food system.

A Direct Attack on Families and Farmers

The bill proposes catastrophic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — slashing between $211 billion and $294 billion from a program that millions of Americans rely on to put food on the table. Rural communities, children, and seniors would be hit especially hard. And contrary to claims that these cuts are fiscally responsible, the bill would use these funds to funnel nearly $60 to $70 billion into expanded subsidies that benefit only a tiny fraction of large commodity operations.

But cutting SNAP doesn’t just harm families. It hurts farmers too. USDA research shows that farmers receive 24% of every SNAP dollar spent on food for home consumption. Cutting $294 billion from SNAP could drain up to $70 billion in revenue from farmers themselves—an economic blow that California’s small and mid-sized farms can’t afford.

A Recipe for Bigger Deficits and Deeper Cuts

The Congressional Budget Office warns that this legislation would increase the national debt by more than $2.4 trillion. This ballooning deficit would trigger automatic cuts (sequestration) to vital USDA programs, including essential conservation programs that farmers depend on to adapt to drought, extreme weather, and climate change.

Benefits for the Few, at the Expense of the Many

While California is home to one of the most diverse agricultural economies in the nation, this bill benefits only a tiny sliver of large corporate interests. For example:

• The bill’s reference price increases would chiefly benefit just 0.3% of U.S. farms—primarily those growing rice, peanuts, and cotton—while 73% of farmers would see no benefit at all.
• The Senate version mirrors this pattern, stripping away support for vital programs like farm loans, rural development, and research.
• Currently, there is an annual limit on the amount of direct commodity payments that an individual farmer or entity can receive each year, and the limits are designed to prevent excessive subsidies payouts, discourage farm consolidation, and promote fairness. By lifting payment limits for corporations (but not family farms), the bill rewards consolidation and corporate expansion. Seventy-five percent of California farms are family-run and would still be subject to payment caps, meaning only corporate entities would benefit.
• The bill also lifts income caps that currently prevent multimillionaire corporations from receiving direct federal payments. Only 12% of California farms exceed $900,000 in income, with 77% making less than $250,000 annually, our farmers rely heavily on off-farm income to stay afloat (to state even more clearly, nationally a total of all US farm household income came from off-farm sources). The vast majority of California growers would be left behind.

Undermining the Farm Bill and Shutting Out Public Input

By stuffing major farm bill components into this partisan reconciliation package, Congress is circumventing the transparent, inclusive process that the full Farm Bill requires. The last Farm Bill passed in 2018; since then, farmers have faced historic climate disruptions, supply chain shocks, and economic uncertainty stemming from a global pandemic and resulting high inflation. Now more than ever, we need a comprehensive Farm Bill that reflects today’s realities and builds resilience for tomorrow—not a backroom deal that locks in inequities and leaves most farmers out.

As our partners at NSAC aptly put it: “A vote for this bill is not a vote for farmers – it’s a vote to abandon them.” This legislation is a betrayal of family farmers, rural communities, and every American who values a fair, sustainable food system.

We Demand Better

At CAFF, we believe public policy should serve the public good. That means:

• Protecting nutrition programs that support both families and farmers.
• Investing in small and mid-sized farms that form the backbone of California’s agricultural economy.
• Ensuring corporate agribusinesses do not monopolize public resources.
• Preserving the integrity of the farm bill process so all voices are heard.

We call on Congress to reject this harmful budget bill and return to the task of passing a full, fair, and inclusive Farm Bill that works for all farmers, all families, and all communities.

The future of our farms, our food, and our rural communities depends on it.