July 17, 2001

Contact: Steven Cohen; 202-347-3600
cohens@nppc.org

 

NPPC PRAISES CONSERVATION FOCUS OF FARM BILL CONCEPT PAPER

National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Barb Determan, in testimony before the House Agriculture Committee today, applauded Chairman Combest’s efforts to raise the visibility of conservation programs in the next farm bill.

Determan, a pork producer and grain farmer from Early, Iowa, told Combest that his proposal to increase conservation spending by $15 billion over 10 years, "…has the potential to make your farm bill one of the important milestones in federal conservation policy."

"Livestock and poultry producers face, or will soon face, costly environmental regulations as a result of state or federal law designed to protect water and air quality," Determan said. "In addition to state requirements, the regulations will come from the Clean Water Act TMDL program, the proposed CAFO permit requirements, and the Clean Air Act."

Of the $1.2 billion a year increase proposed for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), 50 percent would go to livestock and poultry producers. Determan cautioned, however, that economic projections peg the conservation assistance needs of livestock and poultry producers at twice what the draft paper allows and requested that the Committee examine ways to boost funding for EQIP further.

Determan applauded the fact that under Combest’s proposal, livestock and poultry producers would be eligible conservation cost share assistance regardless of the size of their operations.

"Family owned or operated livestock operations come in all sizes, and all of these will need cost share assistance if they are to remain economically viable while providing the public with the environmental benefits they obviously seek," Determan said.

Determan also commended Combest for including $850 million over 10 years to provide livestock producers with the necessary technical assistance. Determan added that it was important that third party private sector experts be able to supplement the technical assistance to be provided by USDA.

Determan added that NPPC also supported doubling the funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) to $180 million annually; $300 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP); and $370 million in grants to help farmers invest in value added agricultural enterprises.

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Note to editors: The separation of the National Pork Producers Council from the checkoff-funded activities of the National Pork Board went into effect July 1, 2001. For questions or comments on legislative and regulatory issues, contact Steven Cohen at 202-347-3600. For questions or comments on checkoff-funded activities, contact Cindy Cunningham at 515-223-2600.

 

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