Navigating the Farm Bill
Financial Implications and Farmer Well-being
Sen. Joe Donnelly moderates a panel discussion on how to advance farm policy in the face of a stalled Farm Bill, and what the continual slash and burn tactics of the Trump Administration will do to USDA services. Learn how the Farm Bill impacts agricultural finances, influences farmer stress levels, and connects to mental health resources within the farming community.
Panelists include:
Jennifer Fahy: Jennifer came to Farm Aid in 2002, serving in a variety of roles, including Communications Director since 2008. In 2025, she became Co-Executive Director. Coming to Farm Aid without a background in agriculture, she spent her first weeks’ vacation working on a farm in Western Massachusetts. Jennifer is inspired and energized by the intersection of people she works with, from fellow staff and the Farm Aid Board of Directors to farmers, artists, activists, policymakers and members of the media. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Jennifer is a proud urban gardener and farmers market enthusiast.
Zach Ducheneaux: Zach is a third generation rancher, and Executive Director of the Intertribal Agriculture Council prior to accepting a role as the Farm Service Agency Administrator in 2021. Since January of 2025 he's been bringing an investment approach to production agriculture to revitalize rural economies and preserve family farms and ranches. His company, 5th C LLC will match investors with agriculture producers in a manner that shares profits, shares risk, and shares opportunity more equitably with the producer.
Scott Marlow: Scott brings 30 years at the front lines of farm and rural viability, sustainability and resilience, connecting direct service, “kitchen table” experience with national policy, through grassroots engagement, coalition building, and systems analysis. Grounded in his time on farm survival hotlines, he has developed training, analysis and successful policy initiatives on farm and rural disaster recovery, credit, risk management and commodity programs, and specializes in the big picture of how, in a changing climate, farm safety net programs determine who gets to farm, what they get to farm, and how. As the Deputy Administrator of Farm Programs at USDA Farm Service Agency, Scott oversaw over $20B in assistance to farmers, including leading high-priority disaster and financial crisis assistance initiatives, from conceptualization and needs assessment through policy development, clearance and implementation, under intense time pressure and scrutiny, resulting in groundbreaking programs keeping thousands of farmers on their land and in their homes.
SOUND OFF
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