Conservation Boosted, But CSP to Lose
Source: High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal, by Chris Clayton
May 21, 2007
OMAHA (DTN) -- While the proposed farm bill conservation title, which will be considered next week by the House Agriculture Committee, doesn't show any love for the much-maligned Conservation Security Program, the committee's proposal would expand several other key conservation programs --- if the money is found.
The 96-page proposed conservation title could double funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP. To boost the energy portion of the farm bill, the House proposal deals with switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol by adding 5 million acres to the Grasslands Reserve Program.
Increased funding for most of these programs would hinge on whether the money can be found, which is why the House Agriculture Committee removed $1.1 billion from the Conservation Security Program. Most of that would be used to increase the Wetlands Reserve Program.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Thursday some of the increased spending in conservation programs would be budgeted through the $20 billion reserve fund established for agriculture programs. That spending would hinge on offsets that would have to be found elsewhere in the federal budget.
There was quick criticism of and reaction to the House proposals. The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, for instance, released an "action alert" for members to call everyone on the House Agriculture Committee and express their disapproval about the cuts in the CSP.
Other proposals in the House Agriculture Subcommittee markup would require USDA to establish a single, simplified application process for all conservation programs. The application should get rid of some of redundancy of a farmer or livestock producer providing information that USDA already has on file and streamline the application process for conservation programs.
The plan would also spend $50 million for USDA to create an Environmental Services Standards Board that would be chaired by the Agriculture Secretary and facilitate "market-based approaches" to conservation such as credit markets for conservation and land management practices.
The proposal also creates a $100-million-a-year program to pay for reduction of fertilizer runoff, sediment control and increased conservation practices for farms in the Chesapeake Bay area. The program would cap federal funding at $5 million for each funded project.
A summary of the House proposals for key programs:
Conservation Security Program: Created in 2002, the program, which pays farmers for implementing conservation practices on working lands, would lose $1.1 billion in funding and see no new enrollments until 2012.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program: Under the House plan, EQIP funding could effectively double. USDA allocations over the past two years have averaged about $1 billion. The House proposal would bump that to $2 billion, if offsetting money is found. Otherwise, the plan would phase in funding increases that would put EQIP at $9 billion over five years instead of $10 billion. In language that sounds somewhat like the CSP, the plan would pay farmers an incentive payment at a rate established by the USDA secretary for performing environmental management practices, developing a nutrient management plan or implementing energy-efficient or renewable-energy systems.
Grassland Reserve Program: Authorization would increase by 5 million acres to 7 million total, if funding is found through offsets. The GRP is an easement program that allows for protection of grassland or rangeland through long-term contracts, preventing conversion to cropland or other purposes. The program has been unable to keep up with demand for enrollment in the past several years and typically receives requests from landowners to enroll million of acres more than USDA is authorized.
Wetlands Reserve Program: Acreage would increase by 1.5 million acres to 3.775 million acres. The program, which idles and restores wetlands, would receive an additional $1.6 billion over five years. Landowners enrolled in the WRP are allowed to continue using the land for fishing or hunting. In fiscal 2007, the program spent $227 million. The program typically has 400,000 to 500,000 acres unfunded every year.
Conservation Reserve Program: New enrollment would be capped to a maximum of 10 percent of any lands enrolled in the Grassland Reserve Program that year. So if the GRP enrollment was 1 million new acres next year, the CRP would be limited to 100,000 new acres.
Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program: The program, which helps pay for land easements to keep farms in production rather than sold for other purposes, would see funding increase to $300 million a year. Over the past two years, the program has spent an average of $72 million.
Chris Clayton can be reached at chris.clayton@dtn.com
