Copyright 2001, Environmental News Network
June 15, 2001

Mahantango Creek watershed near Klingerstown, Pennsylvania. The combination of land use, soil properties, and hydrogeology largely determine vulnerability of surface and groundwater contamination by agricultural activities.

WASHINGTON -- The federal government could protect America's environment much better than it is now if farmers and ranchers were rewarded financially for their work as caretakers of the nation's land, water, and wildlife, according to the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

Testifying Wednesday at a Congressional subcommittee hearing for a new farm bill, the society urged federal policymakers to spend $3 billion for a new stewardship based farm and ranch program.

"At least $5 billion a year, double our current spending, is needed," said Craig Cox, executive vice-president of of the Iowa-based nonprofit society.

"We need to spend more to help farmers and ranchers keep producing, but in an environmentally sound way," he said. About 85 cents of every conservation dollar now spent in the United States is spent to take land out of production for conservation, he told the hearing.

The House Agricultural Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research is gathering information on how current conservation programs are operating, what changes are necessary and whether new programs are needed to help producers comply with regulatory standards.

Subcommittee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), asked witnesses to prepare testimony in light of a comprehensive farm reauthorization bill that has been in the works for the past two years.

"The interesting fact is that if we add up what the majority of groups asked for in the commodity title plus what most groups have asked for or are going to ask for in a conservation title, we will have already spent more money than was budgeted for the entire farm bill," said Lucas. "That is why I want to focus on what is working and what is not working; what is being done efficiently and effectively and what is not."

Several witnesses appearing before the committee requested increases in conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetland Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and the Farmland Protection Program.

Witnesses also discussed how programs should address the many regulations facing landowners, including restrictions on farm pollution that enters waterways and waste handling from industrial animal feedlots.

"Environmental performance is becoming a key determinant of the commercial viability of agriculture," Cox said. "Producers feeding livestock and irrigating crops or pasture already are facing questions about the environmental consequences of their operations."

Funding for conservation programs has been flat for the past 15 years, Cox said. At the same time, the environmental challenges facing agriculture have multiplied.

"We don't have to choose between commercial viability and environmental quality," he said. "We can have both, but only if conservation moves to the center of farm policy."

The full Agriculture Committee has been setting the stage for the new farm bill for the last two years. Error: Unable to read footer file.