The Environmental Working Group (EWG) will host a “first-ever Summit on the future of farm subsidies featuring key experts, including leaders from the Heritage Foundation and other conservative voices” on September 5, 2023. According to EWG, the Summit will also feature experts from other organizations, including farm groups, and will feature a panel of congressional staff who work for leading subsidy reform advocates in Congress. EWG notes that the Future of Farm Subsidies Summit will be held as the House and Senate agriculture committees are completing their work on House and Senate versions of the farm bill, and as some House leaders are proposing to increase subsidies that primarily flow to cotton, rice, and peanut farmers.
The Summit will highlight key themes, “includ[ing] the need to modernize our farm subsidies to level the playing field and to recognize the risks posed by climate change.” EWG notes that in particular, speakers will highlight inequities in farm safety, the absence of meaningful limits on farm subsidies, the extent to which increasing “reference prices” will compound these shortcomings, the extent to which subsidies harm the environment, and the need for common sense reforms, such as payment limits, means testing, and greater transparency.
Registration is open.