P.J. Haynie farms on the same Virginia land that his family has had for five generations using some of the same conservation practices his relatives have employed for decades to maintain the land.
He also farms on land near Pine Bluff, growing rice, corn and soybeans in Phillips, Lee and Jefferson counties. He was a finalist for 2024 U.S. Top Farm Producer of the Year.
P.J. Haynie
“It’s a real honor to be a farmer and farm on the land my family has had, but it’s a challenge,” Haynie said.
The challenges are even greater now, he said, because Congress stalled in an attempt to enact a new Farm Bill. The bill, updated in 2018, set policy and funding for farm, food and conservation practices. It is set for review every five years, but legislators are grappling over a couple of major items.
At issue is what Haynie calls the “safety net” of payments to farmers for conservation practices. Programs the bill could fund include building reservoirs and tailwater recovery pits that can recirculate water and save farmers expensive irrigation costs. The bill can also pay for rotational crop grazing.
It has become a partisan struggle. Republicans see the bill’s Inflation Reduction Act appropriations for conservation programs as creating a surplus funding pool for the farm legislation. Democrats say the $20 billion appropriated to land-saving measures is necessary and vital to farming success.
“This funding makes sure we have one of the most safe and abundant food-secure nations in the world,” Haynie said. “When you say grace over your dinner tonight, you need to thank a farmer for putting it there.”
Legislators are also disagreeing on funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, once known as food stamps. Republicans want to put more restrictions on funding that would limit disbursements. Democrats say that would jeopardize the bill.
“The problem is that we don’t have a true farm representation doing this,” Haynie said of the legislative debate over the Farm Bill. “There’s not enough dirty boots under the table making decisions.”
Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas) said some of the delays in approving a new farm bill boil down to partisan politics. Crawford represents Arkansas’ 1st District, which covers most of the Delta.
Rep. Rick Crawford
“Unfortunately, the Farm Bill has evolved into partisan issues,” he said. “The contentiousness between parties is the most difficult part.”
Crawford said the Farm Bill is steeped in science and takes into consideration climate change. While some say temperatures are constantly rising, Crawford and other Republicans want more evidence of global warming before committing to what they view as expensive provisions of the bill.
“We know the climate is changing,” he said. “It’s been changing since time began, but we run into issues with the other side if you don’t agree with everything they say. We’re called ‘science deniers.’ We’re not denying science. If we don’t question facts, it won’t be an intellectual and honest discussion.”
It is those kinds of debates that have farmers concerned about the revised Farm Bill’s future and potential cuts that could hurt their operations.
Jared and Lindi Phillips raise about 60 sheep on their Branch Mountain Farm in Washington County.
Jared Phillips
“Most farmers practice conservation practices anyway,” Jared Phillips said. “That’s just good farming. It’s common sense, but I don’t understand the cuts in conservation funding. It’s good business. It makes good sense. It’s a huge investment to invest in yourselves without having to get loans. The government has offered funding to do what we probably have already done.”
He said he does not think the bill, which expired in September and is now enacted in a provisional mode, will be renewed before the presidential election in November.
Phillips and Haynie, along with scores of other Arkansas farmers, are participating in a campaign that raises awareness of potential cuts to the Farm Bill. The campaign, called Invest in Our Land, is running advertisements and informational notices via television, online and print venues across the state. The campaign is also working with farmers and ranchers in 10 other states to promote keeping conservation practices intact.
“[The Farm Bill] policies are good for business and for the state of Arkansas,” Phillips said.
If the bill is not renewed with the conservation practices still in place, it will “change the game for farmers across the state,” he said, adding, “This will pass on to the next generation of farmers.”
He said the current Farm Bill helps small farmers remain viable.
“We used conservation practices and saved money,” he said. “We saw a 20- to 30-percent jump in productivity using those practices. This bill is a make-or-break deal for many.”
In addition to working with Invest in Our Land, Haynie is the chairman of the National Black Growers Council, an agency striving to increase efficiency, productivity and sustainability of Black farmers.
Black farmers comprise about only 2 percent of all American farmers, Haynie said. Of those farmers, only 8 percent are row-crop farmers, he added.
“Black farmers are historically underserved,” Haynie said. “We need to get diversity in all programs.”
He said any cuts in the Farm Bill funding would be yet another detriment both Black and white farmers will face.
“This really isn’t a Black and white issue,” he said. “It’s an all-farmer issue. We step out on the limb of faith to farm. It’s a real honor to be a farmer, but it has its challenges.”
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