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| Ducks Home > Ducks News > Farm Bill
Update: House Passes Farm Security Act | ||||||||||
Farm Bill Update: House Passes Farm Security
Act On October 5th, the House of Representatives
completed debate on the Farm Bill and passed a final bill by a vote
of 291 to 120. The Farm Bill encompasses many agricultural programs,
including conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve
Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program. The House version would
extend federal farm payment programs for a period of ten years. The
Senate is expected to take up the Farm Bill in the coming weeks, if
not earlier. After the Senate votes on its version of the Farm Bill,
a conference committee representing both chambers of Congress will
meet to iron out differences and produce a final bill. The final House bill makes changes to dozens of programs, dramatically increasing federal payments for many of them. It extends some conservation programs that would otherwise be shut down and increases the size of a program to help livestock producers deal with animal waste by 600%. The levels of funding for programs in demand by farmers and most important to waterfowl fall short of landowner demand and the goals supported by a coalition of wildlife conservation organizations, including DU. On October 4th, the House of Representatives voted on the “Compromise for Conservation” amendment to the Farm Bill (H.R. 2646). This amendment, which was supported by many wildlife and sportsman’s organizations, would have lifted enrollment caps for the Conservation Reserve Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program, and other programs that are good for producers and wildlife to levels being sought by many agricultural producers. The amendment was narrowly defeated by a vote of 226-200. Because of the politics in the way this issue was presented to the House, we ended up with a different position on this amendment from some long time friends. This was not our preferred course of action but it was necessary to encourage some compromise as the bill moves forward. Although this amendment was not successful, in many ways we were encouraged by the vote. 200 members of the House demonstrated strong interest to expand proven agricultural conservation programs. We are also encouraged by the efforts of our members and volunteers who collectively voiced their support for these important programs. Our “Take Action” option through the DU website led to thousands of contacts with Congress. Ducks Unlimited has always been active in supporting conservation legislation, but the magnitude of our most recent efforts is unprecedented! In Other Legislative News: After resolving many differences, a joint Congressional conference committee has agreed on a bill that would provide record breaking funding for the North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA). $43.5 million in federal funds would be allocated to NAWCA. This is $28.5 million above the Administration’s budget and $3.5 million above last year’s final appropriation. The conference committee also agreed on funding for a new Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation (NMBC) program. The NMBC is a conservation program designed to protect primarily non-game birds that migrate far south from Alaska and northern Canada. The protection of neotropical birds—those that winter in mainland South America, Central America and the Caribbean—is vital in the attempt to maintain species diversity. Stay tuned to DU's website for more Farm Bill updates. |
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