Environmental Defense and Environmental Working Group today
applauded Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA)
for increasing average annual U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
conservation funding to $4.4 billion in a revised Farm Bill
reintroduced this week.
"Senator Harkin's revised Farm Bill will reward farmers and
ranchers when they help improve water quality, restore wildlife
habitat, and serve as the frontline against suburban sprawl," said
Environmental Defense water resources specialist Scott Faber. "But
it also recognizes that while farmers and ranchers are willing to do
their part to meet environmental challenges, good stewards face new
costs or lost income when they take steps to help the environment."
"More than half of farmers and ranchers are now turned away when
they apply for conservation assistance because these popular
programs have not been funded. Thanks to the leadership of Senator
Harkin, these stewards of the land will no longer be denied access
to USDA assistance," said Environmental Working Group President Ken
Cook.
In particular, the new Harkin Farm Bill will provide:
- $350 million annually on average for the Farmland Protection
Program, which acquires development rights from willing farmers
and ranchers threatened by sprawl;
- $1.2 billion annually on average for the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program, which shares the cost of efforts to improve
water quality;
- $270 million annually on average for the Wildlife Habitat
Incentives Program, including a new focus on habitat restoration
for endangered species;
- A new program to work with farmers and ranchers to lease,
transfer, or acquire water rights on 1.1 million acres of land, to
help endangered fish and wildlife; and,
- Sufficient funding to annually restore 250,000 acres of
wetlands nationwide.
A similar effort to boost conservation funding in the House by
Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Wayne Gilchrest
(R-MD), and John Dingell (D-MI) came closer than expected in an
October vote, boosting Senate reform prospects.
Because all farmers and ranchers are eligible for conservation
funds, the Harkin's revised Farm Bill also makes farm policy more
regionally equitable - but will boost funding available to small
and medium-sized farms in every state, including his own. Under
current spending, only certain agricultural products are eligible
for traditional income support payments. Consequently, farmers in
15 commodity-crop states receive 75% of all USDA spending, while
large farm states such as New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina,
Florida and California receive very little USDA funds.
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