A coalition of 35 agriculture and conservation groups has kicked off a campaign to convince members of the Senate to reject what it calls "disproportionately high cuts to agriculture conservation programs" in the House-passed appropriations bill for fiscal 2011 (HR 1).
In a letter to all 100 senators, the coalition says HR 1 would cut discretionary spending at both USDA and the Food and Drug Administration — including critical funding for conservation technical assistance for farmers, ranchers and foresters — by 22 percent, more than 50 percent higher than the non-defense average cut of 14 percent.
Programs targeted for more than $500 million in budget cuts include the conservation stewardship environmental quality incentives, wetland reserve and biomass crop assistance programs. According to the letter, demand for enrollment in these conservation programs routinely exceeds the funds available, even without any cuts. "Farmers and ranchers are waiting to enroll over 1,000,000 acres in the wetlands reserve program and grasslands reserve program," says the coalition. And, "Applications for the conservation stewardship program and the environmental quality incentives program often outstrip available funds by two to three times."
In closing, the organizations claim that "Failure to support our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and natural resource base today will jeopardize our agricultural industry, drive up long term costs for environmental mitigation, and threaten our nation's food security." The groups also encourage Congress to postpone any action on federal conservation programs until the next farm bill is written in 2012. "We ask the Senate to recognize the importance of agricultural conservation programs and ensure that reasonable funding levels are continued. Ensuring that cuts are minimized today will give Congress the latitude to address these crucial issues in the upcoming farm bill debate," the groups say.
