7:30 am – 3:00 pm
RM 102 – The Farm Bill – What it means to YOU – NRCS Program Directors & Staff

The Farm Bill: What it means to you

"The 2002 Farm Bill represents the most significant commitment of resources towards conservation on private lands in the history of the United States," says Carole Jett, Associate Deputy Chief for Programs in the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS).

Jett outlined several major farm bill conservation programs that producers could implement, including Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation of Private Grazing Lands (CPGL), Conservation Security Program (CSP), Wetlands Reserve Programs (WRP) and Farmland Protection Program (FPP).

Jett said that currently, Congress is in the process of deciding how money will be allocated to conservation programs covered in the farm bill, including EQIP programs.

After giving a brief overview of programs the farm bill provides funding for, Ed Burton, a state conservationist from Wyoming, talked about how important it is for producers to utilize their regional and local NRCS offices, and to use their technical assistants to identify good conservation practices to maximize their land’s potential while preserving the environment.

"Our objective is to tailor-make a conservation program to each individual’s situation," Burton says. "We recognize the conservation process is an ongoing one, which takes time to implement. We believe the only approach to good conservation is voluntarily to have conservation be sustained over time."

He said that producers who are interested in creating a conservation plan, or learning more about how a conservation plan would affect their land, should contact an NRCS technical assistant or conservation specialist in their area. The representatives are available to review individual operations and offer suggestions on what conservation methods could be implemented.

The third part of the college discussed cost-share assistance, which can be explored after conservation planning and objectives have been completed. Janet Oertly, a state conservationist from South Dakota, spoke on different cost-share options producers can explore. These include federal, state, local and private cost-share programs, emergency programs, and program specific cost-share funds.

Oertly gave several examples of cost-share projects that have been completed in South Dakota. These include providing easy access to water during drought conditions. They worked with EQIP and the emergency conservation program to bring water into a tank from a rural waterline.

Another example included implementing a rotational grazing system by supplying water to multiple pastures. Part of the money to cross-fence the area came from cost-sharing funds with the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The final area that was reviewed was putting land into conservation easements. Leslie Deavers from the WRP spoke on different easement programs the government offered. These included Farmland Protection, Grassland Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and EWP Floodplain Easements, which are issued in emergency situations only.

She said people enter into easement agreements for a variety of reasons including financial, because they are production oriented, estate planning, using marginal/high risk land, and they want the land to stay in agriculture.

Easements are long-term plans, and some are entered into forever, so producers need to keep that in mind when they think about selling land into these programs. Conservation easements are a sale of land rights to the government, not just a benefit to producers.

Producers that have implemented some of these programs shared their views. John Allen from Pennsylvania said the financial benefit from entering into his easements provided him with the opportunity to buy more land. He also lives in an area that is becoming more developed, and that land will always be in agriculture.

He cautions producers to think long and hard before entering into any conservation agreement because they are contracts, and producers need to be dedicated to carrying them out.

— by Stephanie Veldman