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Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin's (D-IA) farm
bill proposal is an improvement over farm legislation passed by the
U.S. House of Representatives, but still falls short of meeting
conservation goals and achieving regional equity according to
Environmental Defense.
"Under the current system, the majority of U.S. farmers are
routinely rejected when they seek conservation funding from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), including 70% of those seeking
water quality grants and more than 500,000 farmers who have offered
to restore lost wetlands. Unfortunately, the Harkin proposal still
falls short of meeting the demand for participation in existing
conservation programs," said Environmental Defense attorney Tim
Searchinger.
While the Harkin legislation seeks to fund restoration of 250,000
acres of wetlands and retains current limits of feedlots subsidies,
Environmental Defense is calling on Harkin to increase funding for
water quality and wildlife habitat incentives as well as expand open
space preservation and other conservation programs under the USDA.
"Farmers and ranchers are willing to do their part to help the
environment, but we need to provide them with adequate tools and
better incentives," said Environmental Defense water resource
specialist Scott Faber. "The last farm bill dedicated 30% of farm
spending to conservation programs, but Senator Harkin's proposal
would spend less than 20% of USDA funds to reward farmers who help
the environment."
The Harkin bill will provide $3.5 billion in annual average
spending for traditional USDA conservation programs during the years
covered by the bill, a figure that is far below the $4.2 billion in
funding proposed by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Richard
Lugar (R-IN) or the $5 billion in annual funding to be proposed this
week by Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Harry Reid (D-NV).
Environmental Defense is also concerned that Senator Harkin's
income subsidy proposals do not reduce incentives that have led to
crop surpluses in the past and contributed to the destruction of
environmentally sensitive lands through the production of row crops
like corn and soybeans, a concern that is also shared by the Bush
administration.
### Environmental Defense, a leading national
nonprofit organization based in New York, represents more than
300,000 members. Since 1967 we have linked science, economics, and
law to create innovative, equitable, and cost-effective solutions to
the most urgent environmental problems. | 
