USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Bruce Knight met
with a group of commodity interests, including NAWG, conservation
interests and USDA officials to discuss a proposed March workshop on the
Farm Bill conservation title and conservation issues generally.
The proposed workshop, tentatively scheduled for March 20 and 21 in
Washington D.C., would be focused on the conservation title
implementation. Although Chief Knight acknowledged that USDA would be well
on the way to implementation by March of next year, he agreed that the
workshop would be useful to help fine tune conservation policies. This
meeting is being scheduled around the time of the annual National
Association of Conservation Districts meeting and Chief Knight agreed to
encourage as many state conservation directors who will be attending the
NACD meeting to also attend this workshop.
Chief Knight also raised what he referred to as "pot stirrer" questions
such as what the appropriate level of cost share should be for programs
like EQIP and the new Conservation Security Program, should it be 75% or
would it be more effective at a lower level. He also raised an interesting
question about whether the conservation easements set up by various
programs like CRP and the new Grassland Reserve Program and the federal
dollars that flow from those programs create a federal interest "in
perpetuity" in those private farm lands. In other words, is this federal
land use planning for private property.
NAWG also noted that it would be important to be able to measure the
additional environmental benefits that would result from the additional
expenditure of money on existing and new conservation programs, both from
the standpoint of justifying this expenditure to Congress and as a
justification for producers to participate in these programs.
When finalized, details of the workshop such as times, location and
agenda, will be provided to all NAWG members.
