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Senate Approach Would Speed Payments to Indiana Farmers for Farmland Conservation
Fate of Funding Hangs on Key Farm Bill Negotiations
Indiana’s considerable – and growing – farmland conservation needs on private lands have gone chronically underfunded for years. That could all change as a handful of Senators and Representatives decide whether or not to adopt the Senate’s $4.3 billion annual investment in farmland conservation programs during final farm bill negotiations this month.
Currently, there is over $27 million in unfunded applications from Indiana farmers who want to implement conservation practices on their land that would protect farmland and enhance drinking water sources and wildlife habitat.
These programs, which pay farmers to take steps to boost conservation, provide a range of benefits to rural communities while boosting family farm incomes – particularly among smaller struggling family farm operations.
New analysis by EWG shows that the Senate’s approach to boosting funding for farmland conservation programs would immediately get much needed assistance to more farmers in the state than the House bill. In comparison, by waiting until 2007 to ramp up farmland conservation programs, the House bill would fail to meet the growing demand for farmers who want to reduce their farm’s impact on local rivers and streams, enhance wildlife habitat and prevent sprawl from consuming more farmland. And, the longer farmers and communities have to wait to enroll in conservation programs, the more expensive it will be for taxpayers to address conservation problems.
In short, adopting the Senate’s conservation strategy will help more farmers, provide benefits to society and save taxpayers money.
Meeting Environmental Challenges with Agriculture Conservation Programs in Indiana
Cleaner Rivers and Lakes: In Indiana, 52.7 percent of surveyed rivers and streams and 100 percent of surveyed lakes have been classified as impaired. Agriculture is one of the leading causes of nonpoint source pollution in Indiana.
Thirty percent of the nutrient contamination in the Gulf of Mexico, where a "dead zone" exists because of excessive nutrients, originates from the Upper Midwest. Efforts to increase funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in the next farm bill would help more Indiana farmers adopt practices to reduce the level of sedimentation, nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into Indiana waters. The current backlog of EQIP funding in Indiana is $22 million. Increased funding for the Conservation Reserve Program, especially for grass and tree buffers near to water bodies, in the next farm bill would also help reduce agricultural pollutants in many Indiana watersheds. Although soil loss is declining, Indiana still loses approximately 46 million tons of soil per year from cropland. Through the CRP, farmers can retire highly erodible land without incurring economic costs.
Safer Drinking Water: In Indiana, 110 drinking water systems serving 8,940 people exceeded EPA's nitrate threshold from 1995 through 2000. And 5 percent of shallow wells, failed to meet the EPA threshold as well. Pesticide use in Indiana is 28 million pounds per year and nitrate use is 496,000 tons per year. Through USDA technical assistance and EQIP, Indiana farmers could implement practices to reduce the use of these chemicals and prevent them from contaminating Indiana's water bodies and source drinking water areas.
Protected Open Space and Working Landscapes: America's most profitable agriculture takes place near population centers. More than half of the value of American agricultural production comes from counties in and around urban areas. According to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, Indiana has lost 500,000 acres of farmland over the last five years to other uses. This is an average of 100,000 acres per year, equivalent to losing an area the size of all the farmland in either Clark, Fayette, Warrick or Owen counties. Indiana's population is growing at the rate of 5.3 percent per year, but rural populations are growing at a rate of 9.6 percent annually. Sixty-four percent of Indiana's 300,000 population increase between the period 1990 and 1996 occurred in rural areas. (Indiana Land Resources Council). Converting prime farmland to housing developments and parking lots means that it is lost for meeting future food needs as well as for open space. To address this challenge, the Hoosier Farmland Preservation Task Force established by Governor O'Bannon recommended the state allow local areas to establish purchase of development rights programs similar to the federal Farmland Protection Program. Unfortunately, funding for the federal program has not kept up with the interest coming from farmers nationally. Only one out of ten farmers who applied were accepted into the program over the last four years. If the Farmland Protection Program was adequately funded in the next farm bill it would help protect the natural resource base and open space in the Hoosier state for future generations.
Enhanced Wildlife Habitat: Indiana farmland is home to many species of game and non-game wildlife, including fox, deer, turkey, and mink, as well as the endangered spotted turtle and Blanding's turtle. Although Indiana farmers have enrolled over 364,000 acres in the Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs, lack of funding has created a backlog of farmers who want to enroll additional land in the programs. Indiana farmers volunteered to enroll 2,860 acres in the WRP last year in permanent protection and another 90 acres under 30 year easements. At least $4.2 million is needed to eliminate this backlog. Many more farmers are volunteering for the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program to enhance wildlife habitat on their working farmland. Currently, 193 applications from farmers and ranchers totaling $357,000 are unfunded in Indiana. Proposals to increase funding for these programs in the next farm bill would ensure that all farmers and ranchers who want to retire highly sensitive land for wildlife habitat or adopt new practices to create habitat can do so.
Healthier Food Supply: Many Indiana producers are moving towards organic production. Since organic food is one of the fastest growing segments in the U.S. food industry, Indiana could create a healthier food supply and farm economy by increasing organic production. Proposals to include organic transition payments in the next Farm Bill would help those Indiana farmers who want to switch to organic farming.
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