State agricultural officials have announced their priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) will direct its policy advocacy efforts regarding the bill toward 10 specific policy areas. 

The bill includes food safety-related policies, as well as other topics. The food safety-related portions of the bill include:

• Agriculture Research: NASDA recommends significant funding for research focusing on the safety and security of the food system and improving and protecting our natural resources. Robust funding for agricultural research and extension programs, and infrastructure, particularly within the nation’s many outstanding agricultural colleges and universities, is vital to ensuring producers remain competitive domestically and globally.
• Animal Disease: NASDA supports a comprehensive program of animal disease prevention and management, including three critical components—early disease detection and surveillance, prevention, and rapid response. NASDA recommends building upon the three-tiered program established by the 2018 Farm Bill and ensuring that the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank has adequate funds to increase available resources for the livestock industry. NASDA endorses developing and enacting a new funding mechanism to build an early disease detection warning system to help support coordination between intergovernmental agencies and industry for a One Health approach for preparing and responding to new disease outbreaks.
• Food Safety: The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a landmark bill that has overhauled American food safety regulation from response-driven to preventive and farm-focused. Congress should address the variety of implementation challenges with the final FSMA rules. The next Farm Bill should provide resources to assist producers in complying with FSMA.

The full list of priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill can be found here.