Farm bill up front during USDA official's stop
Source: The Prairie Star, by Shannon Ruckman
August 30, 2007
BILLINGS, Mont. - Drought combined with lightning was a dangerous combination that nearly destroyed a subdivision and rangeland southeast of Billings, Mont., last fall.
But, with careful management and a little financial help from the Natural Resources Conservations Service (NRCS), some ranchers in the area were able to recover burned rangeland.
Pat Goggin's Pryor Creek Ranch near Huntley, Mont., was able to recover rangeland and fences on 2,500 acres of 3,000 that burned last October through the Environmental Quality Incentives Pro-gram.
“We seeded the fire lines this fall with a mix of native and other grasses, and we sprayed the fire lines this spring for weeds,” said ranch manager Steve Burgess. “This summer, we've been putting up new fences; we haven't grazed it since the fire, but we'll start grazing it later this fall.”
In order to qualify for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a cost-share program, landowners must produce at least $1,000 per year of agricultural product sales, have less than $2.5 million of off-farm income and agree to defer grazing the burned land for one year, says Valerie Robertson, Yellowstone County conservationist. The program assists producers in recovery costs incurred from the fire on up to 2,500 acres, she said.
The NRCS is currently making nearly $200,000 available now to agricultural producers whose property has been af-fected by the 2007 wildfires in Montana.
To apply for these funds being made available through a special initiative of the Environmental Quality Incentives Pro-gram, producers must apply at their local NRCS office by Sept. 4 and must ensure all information needed is submitted at the same time.
“We want to be responsive to the conservation needs of producers whose private lands have been impacted by this wildfire season,” said Carrie Mosley, acting Montana conservationist.
Eligible agricultural producers who sustain damage on private rangelands from a documented 2007 wildfire may be eligible for a one-time $11-per-acre incentive payment.
This incentive payment is intended to partially reimburse these livestock producers for replacing fence, reestablishing livestock watering facilities and allowing for the recovery of natural vegetation through deferred grazing.
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program is the largest conservation program included in the 2002 farm bill, which is about to expire in September. Congress-men are working to revise and improve the farm bill for 2007.
“We spend just under $1 billion in the farm bill,” said Mark Rey, U.S. Depar-ment of Agriculture Undersecretary who visited the Billings and Missoula, Mont., areas last week to discuss fire recovery and the farm bill. “We spent $1.4 million (a record) in 2006 on fire expenses; we have spent $3.5 million so far in 2007 because there have been much bigger private land fires this year than last year. This year is not a record year, but close to it.”
There have been 8.4 million new homes built over the last 20 years in the wildland interface, one reason firefighting and recovery has become so expensive, said Rey.
“The continued growth of houses in rural acres drives the increased fire costs, along with increased inflation on the cost of materials and equipment used to fight fires,” said Rey. “We are working to educate landowners to make them firewise, working on fuels treatment on federal lands and amassing information necessary on non-critical acres.”
The Bureau of Land Management treats 4.5 million high risk acres per year using fuel reduction methods, but there are 80 million acres of forestland deemed priority acres for thinning because of their close proximity to urban and ecological areas, he said.
The growth of subdivisions and urban sprawl into rural Montana is one reason Terry Haughian of Miles City, Mont., decided to enroll 14,000 acres of his ranch in the Grassland Reserve Program.
Haughian's new conservation easement is the largest grassland reserve easement and the second largest conservation easement in the United States.
Getting out in the field has “led me to have a love for open spaces,” said Haughian. “This is a better way to keep it that way and to keep our ranch going raising cattle the way we always have.”
A lot of Haughian's family ranch is already enrolled in the NRCS Wildlife Incentive Program to develop and preserve the sage grouse habitat, deeming the Grassland Reserve Program a natural fit, he said.
“This easement is critical to the sage grouse habitat and range preservation,” added Rey of the large enrollment. “The West is changing and growing fast, which is coming from the wildland urban interface - subdivisions converging farms and ranches into ranchettes - the single largest environmental problem in the West.”
Even though he recognizes there is a shortage of funds for the next farm bill, Rey said he and the USDA administration are lobbying to create a fiscally responsible farm bill with common sense reform in the commodity title, and an additional $780 million for the conservation funding.
He also wants to increase investments in the fruits, vegetable and specialty crops for use in the nutrition title and a $2.6 million loan guarantee for commercial ethanol production from cellulosic and forest materials. Rey also wants increased support for producers who are new or have limited resources in the farm bill to provide incentives for new producers to enter the industry.
While Rey is hoping for more conservation funding, he said he does not believe it should compromise the commodity title. “It's not an either-or,” he said. “The commodity title is not reliable when producers fail to produce a crop, but if it were based on farm revenue rather than price it would eliminate the argument that our farm policies promote market distortion. Instead, it should help operations be so profitable that payment is not necessary.”
Rey said by reforming the commodity title using common sense, such as limiting payments, limiting who can receive payments, giving payments to those who need them most, the USDA administration is able to propose a $780 million increase in conservation funding.
“The House of Representatives has already released their farm bill - it falls short on the commodity title reform, doesn't have enough of an increase in the conservation title and has no energy title,” said Rey. “However, it reflects a great deal of effort and I think it should go forward. I don't think they'll extend the current farm bill - the House has already passed a bill, and the Senate, I think, is far enough along that I think they will pass their own bill.”
Rey said he believes Congress will have a new farm bill by Christmas.
