Pintail ducks in flight (Photo: USFWS Pacific)

“Few conservation programs can boast the success rate of conservation compliance,” said Moseley, who served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2001 to 2005. “This program has helped farmers save 295 million tons of soil per year and kept an estimated 1.5 million to 3.3 million acres of vulnerable wetlands from being drained. The results of this compact between farmers and taxpayers have been astounding.”

Unfortunately, we are now at risk of losing the conservation gains we have made through this important program. Currently, farmers who receive crop insurance subsidies from the government do not have to participate in conservation compliance. However, over the last 15 years, Congress has increased the subsidy amounts on crop insurance, making it the largest subsidy to farmers.  And, as Congress updates federal farm policy in the next Farm Bill, it is increasingly likely that some commodity programs – which do require conservation compliance – will be phased out in favor of a strengthened crop insurance program. Therefore, it is essential that conservation compliance also be updated to apply to the crop insurance premium assistance.

As Moseley explains:

As Congress reauthorizes the farm bill, it is important that the conservation gains made over the last 25 years be retained. Unless included in the ongoing farm bill discussions, there is a possibility that, for the first time in a quarter century, conservation compliance provisions will no longer be attached to the largest federal payment program supporting producers.

Take Action: Call your member of Congress and tell them that you support linking conservation compliance to crop insurance in the next farm bill.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s a romantic view of farmers, but still it resonates with me. I grew up around farmers and the FFA and I don’t believe there’s a more important vocation on the planet. Farmers carry a lot of responsibilities, looking after the land, feeding their own families, and also producing food for the world. As I watched, I wondered why Dodge chose the Super Bowl to deliver that message of appreciation to farmers.

Maybe it was a show of solidarity after a hard year. First, there was the 2012 drought, one of the worst in recent history. Then, the House of Representatives and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) let farmers down everywhere when they dropped the ball and failed to get a five-year farm bill on the floor.

But for me the Super Bowl commercial evoked an important question: What is the most important role of farmers in our society? It has always been my belief that one of the most important duties is farming the land in a way that protects the earth, and maintains natural resources for the next generation. Liberty Hyde Bailey, a Michigan farmer’s son and agrarian philosopher who lived over a hundred years ago, put it this way:

“We shall conceive of the earth, which is the common habitation, as inviolable. One does not act rightly toward one’s fellows if one does not know how to act rightly toward the earth.” – Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Holy Earth, 1915

Most of the lifelong farmers that I know share Bailey’s views. However, high crop prices, combined with farm subsidies have created a situation that removes the natural risks of farming.  As a result, some farmers are draining wetlands, and grasslands are being plowed up in the Prairie Pothole Region and Great Plains.

We need farmers, and we need to help support farmers as they provide food for the world, while still promoting good stewardship of the land. Two things need to happen in 2013:

1. Congress needs to pass a farm bill.
2. The farm bill must contain a conservation compliance provision and a Sodsaver provision.  This will close the loophole that eliminates natural risks and rewards bad practices.

Please consider writing personally to your Senator and Congressional Representative about this issue, and let s/he know that this is an important issue to you, and why.

My job is to update you on the wildlife impacts of Farm Bill developments from the past few months and give you an idea of what conservation’s future might look like, if the Farm Bill doesn’t pass by September, 21st (Please see my previous blog for a basic explanation of what the Farm Bill is and how it affects wildlife).

Recap: Senate and House Bills

On September 12, 2012, farm groups gathered in front of the Capitol to urge Congress to pass the Farm Bill now. National Wildlife Federation staff attended.

• It maintains an adequate level of funding for conservation programs;
• It contains a national Sodsaver provision to protect native grasslands;
• And it requires that farmers receiving taxpayer-funded crop insurance premium subsidies protect the public good by following a soil conservation plan on highly erodible land and refrain from draining wetlands (known as conservation compliance).

After the Senate bill passed, it was the House’s turn to pass their own version. The House Agriculture Committee moved quickly to pass H.R. 6830, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012. Although the House version maintained a similar level of funding to conservation in comparison to the Senate bill, it lacked important protection for wildlife. The House bill’s version of Sodsaver only applied to the Prairie Pothole Region, despite efforts by Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) to extend Sodsaver nationally and protect native grasslands nationwide. The House version also lacked conservation compliance provisions in exchange for crop insurance premium subsidies. However, if brought to the House floor, members of Congress will have the chance to apply Sodsaver to the entire nation, and apply important soil and water conservation provisions, as Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) did on the Senate floor.

Unfortunately, the Farm Bill is stalled. There are only 3 days left on the Congressional calendar before the 2008 Farm Bill expires on September 30th, 2012, and the House leadership still hasn’t allowed the Farm Bill to go to the floor. Although Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) filed a discharge petition to force the House to a vote, it is unlikely the petition will get enough signatures before the Farm Bill expires.

What will happen if the 2008 Farm Bill expires?

The longer it takes to pass a farm bill, the worse things will be for conservation. According to the Congressional Research Service, funding for some conservation programs, including the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) was extended beyond the Farm Bill until September 2014, by the FY2012 Agriculture Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-55); however, that appropriation contains significant cuts to all those programs.

But the Farm Bill expiration isn’t the only thing affecting conservation funding right now. In an effort to keep the government running  until March 2013, the House has passed a continuing resolution which would cap some conservation programs and cut others. If the House votes on a Farm Bill in the lame duck session after the November election, there is still another chance to restore vital conservation funding.  If Congress waits until next year to vote on the Farm Bill, the process will have to start all over again and conservation will continue to be a target for disproportionate budget cuts.

Will the agricultural world as we know it come to an end?

Old barns might still be pretty, but old farm laws are not. The Farm Bill has to keep moving forward to keep up with the times. Photo credit: flickr, cwwycoff1

So, no, the world isn’t going to end if the Farm Bill doesn’t pass by September 30th. That being said, I am hugely disappointed in this turn of events. I would like to believe that our elected officials can work together and get things done. A Farm Bill that pleases everyone may not exist. But I believe that with hard, bipartisan work, Congress can pass a Farm Bill we can stand behind. There is still time left, and a bill is so close. Yet so far.

What can you do to make sure mayhem doesn’t ensue and wildlife is protected?

Follow the link to ask your representative to extend the important wildlife protection provisions from the Senate version to the House version of the Bill, whenever it comes to the floor.

UPDATE: September 20th: House Speaker John Boehner announced that the Farm Bill will not go to the House floor until after November elections.  

Groups Call on Senate Leaders to Support “Conservation Compliance” Amendment in Farm Bill

Photo by Larry Hitchens.

The hundred groups signed on to the letter include hunting, fishing, farming and conservation organizations, representing millions of Americans who care about protecting soil, wetlands and wildlife habitat.

Hundreds of Organizations Ask Congress to “Hold the Line” on Conservation Programs in the Farm Bill

June 12 – Today, more than 500 organizations, businesses and individuals signed a letter asking congressional leaders not to further cut funding to the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill. Noting that conservation programs already have been significantly cut in recent years and will bear more than their fair share of deficit reduction in the Farm Bill as currently drafted, the letter asks Congress to “hold the line” on conservation funding at the amounts provided in the bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

• AFP: US begins review of new Keystone pipeline route
• MSNBC: Cartoonist turns lawsuit threat into $100K charity fundraiser
• Public News Service: High Park Fire: Sign of Things to Come this Summer?
• The News Herald: Deadline for Great American Campout at Heritage Park is today
• Indian Country Today: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Receive Top Conservation Award
• EnergyWire: Do increasing oil flows open door to more spills? (subscription required)
• Journal Sentinel: Opinion: Federal review needed for pipeline repair project
• Michigan Live: Column: Enbridge puts Michigan residents at risk with pipeline project
• Frederick News-Post: Nature for rent

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News

Western Meadowlark, Photo Credit John and Karen Hollingsworth

With the Farm Bill, a mammoth piece of legislation that touches most Americans in one way or another, being kept out of the limelight could allow some very harmful policies to progress. Unless members of Congress who care about protecting habitat and saving wetlands step up to fix the legislation, decades of conservation achievements could get wiped out.

Subsidizing the Destruction of Wetlands and Habitat

The Senate will soon begin debate on its version of the bill, which makes an effort to move away from direct cash subsidies to farmers. Federally subsidized crop insurance would become the main safety net for farmers – guaranteeing their income, whether or not there is a crop failure or weather disaster.

For this reason, federal crop insurance is extremely popular – over 260 million acres are covered by the program, a participation rate of over 80 percent for the major crops. With increased participation comes an increased cost: the Congressional Budget Office estimates the taxpayer cost over the next decade to be $90 billion.

While replacing  direct cash subsidies with federal crop insurance is good policy in many ways, such a move creates a problem in that, unlike other farm subsidies, federal crop insurance does not require farmers to comply with basic conservation requirements.

Known as “conservation compliance,” this policy ensures that where public money is invested, farmers will implement measures to minimize erosion on their most erosion-prone fields and refrain from draining wetlands.  The penalty for not meeting these basic stewardship expectations is withholding agricultural subsidies – except for subsidized crop insurance. Where farmers are willing to forgo conservation payments and other, smaller commodity support programs, there would be nothing left to ensure protection for soils and wetlands.

To learn more about conservation compliance, read our Conservation Compliance Factsheet (pdf).

Exacerbated by extremely high commodity prices, this giant loophole in the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill could result in huge increases in soil erosion and the largest taxpayer subsidized destruction of wetlands since the policy was established in 1985.    

Closing the Loophole

The good news is there is a simple fix. Congress can make sure that current conservation compliance provisions for Farm Bill programs are retained and re-applied to federal subsidies for crop insurance.

This common sense solution does not require radical reforms, nor will it increase spending. Instead, re-establishing the existing and logical covenant between taxpayers and producers represented by the conservation compliance regimen can save tax dollars, protect natural resources and increase conservation outcomes relative to current conditions. It is imperative that the 2012 Farm Bill takes this opportunity to steer federal policy toward an agricultural future that serves all Americans.  It seems like more than a fair request in exchange for our $90 billion investment in subsidizing crop insurance.

Take Action

  Protect Great Plains wetlands–tell your senators to oppose loopholes in the Farm Bill that would reward farmers for draining wetlands.