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Senate Approach Would Speed Payments to Minnesota Farmers for Farmland Conservation
Fate of Funding Hangs on Key Farm Bill Negotiations
Minnesota’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 $57 million in unfunded applications from Minnesota 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 Minnesota
Cleaner Rivers and Lakes: In Minnesota, 90.9 percent of surveyed rivers and streams and 42.5 percent of surveyed lakes have been classified as impaired. Of this, agricultural pollution causes 59.4 percent of impaired river miles. Agriculture is the leading causes of nonpoint source pollution in Minnesota.
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 Minnesota farmers adopt practices to reduce the level of sedimentation, nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into Minnesota waters. The current backlog of EQIP funding in Minnesota is $29 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 Minnesota watersheds. Although soil loss is declining, Minnesota still loses approximately 156 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 Minnesota, 120 drinking water systems serving 34,999 people exceeded EPA's nitrate threshold from 1995 through 2000. And 9 percent of shallow wells, failed to meet the EPA threshold as well. Pesticide use in Minnesota is 27 million pounds per year and nitrate use is 652,000 tons per year. Through USDA technical assistance and EQIP, Minnesota farmers could implement practices to reduce the use of these chemicals and prevent them from contaminating Minnesota's water bodies and source drinking water areas.
Protected Open Space and Working Landscapes: Minnesota is the fastest growing state in the upper Midwest. The 13-county Twin Cities area is the fastest growing metropolitan region from the northern plains to the eastern seaboard. This metropolitan area also is one of the most sprawling (land and resource consuming) of the top 25 metro regions in the country. Much of the land being lost is also Minnesota's best farmland. Every year, Minnesota loses an average of 40,000 acres of prime farmland per year to development and suburban sprawl (USDA/NRI). 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. A 1994 analysis of three Minnesota cities shows that residential development costs more tax dollars than it contributes in tax revenues. For every $1 paid in taxes, farmland demands $ .47 in services, while residential development demands $1.04 in services. The federal Farmland Protection Program helps states and counties insure that their best farmland remains in agriculture by purchasing the development rights from farmers. Currently, only one out of ten farmers who applies for the program is accepted. Groups are working to fund the program at $500 million annually in the next farm bill to keep pace with development.
Enhanced Wildlife Habitat: Minnesota farmland is home to many species of game and non-game wildlife, including turkey, deer, bear, ring-necked pheasant, gray partridge, cottontail, fox and coyote. Although Minnesota farmers have enrolled over 1.3 million 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. Minnesota farmers volunteered to enroll 21,000 acres in the WRP last year in permanent protection and another 5,214 acres under 30 year easements. At least $28 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. The grasslands of the Great Plains once covered one-third of Minnesota. A new proposal for a grassland easement program would help restore and protect one of the most diverse prairies in the nation.
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 Minnesota producers are moving towards organic production, with 56,000 acres of farmland and 7,410 acres of rangeland now growing organically. Minnesota leads the nation in organic corn and buckwheat and ranks in the top three for soybean and dairy. Since organic food is one of the fastest growing segments in the U.S. food industry, Minnesota 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 Minnesota farmers who want to switch to organic farming.
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