Farm Bill in limbo

Congress updates the Farm Bill roughly every five years. It passed the last one in 2008 and it expired on September 30, 2012. They have been extending it ever since. 

Last month, PennFuture’s Joy Bergey, Peter Marx of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, and I spent the day on Capitol Hill, meeting with members of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation (their staffers, really) and asking them to support some very specific parts of the Senate’s version of a reauthorized Farm Bill. Mainly, the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), which consolidates four existing programs into one that will improve soil and water quality by reducing erosion and sedimentation that have impacted the Chesapeake Bay watershed, i.e., the Susquehanna River Basin here in Pennsylvania.

That’s one good reason to support a reauthorized Farm Bill, but there are so many more. The Farm Bill represents the nation’s largest investment supporting the voluntary and successful conservation, restoration, and management of our nation’s working lands. Conservation programs such as RCPP, the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), just to name a few, provide technical and financial assistance to farmers who utilize conservation practices, resulting in the sound management of millions of acres nationwide.

The Farm Bill also provides funding for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, which helps purchase development rights -- slowing conversion of farm land to non-farm uses and ensuring farming will be a way of life for future generations.

Since there hasn’t been a reauthorization or an extension of mandatory funding, many similar conservation programs have been unable to enroll additional farmers and acres since September 30, 2013.

The Senate version of the Farm Bill also links conservation compliance to crop insurance premium subsidies (this is a good thing). Conservation compliance prevents farmers who drain wetlands or farm highly erodible land without a conservation plan from qualifying for certain Farm Bill subsidies. However, farmers who receive taxpayer-funded premium subsidies on crop insurance haven’t been required to meet conservation compliance provisions since 1996.  By linking the two, we can ensure taxpayer money encourages good stewardship of our natural resources.

When we asked the Congressional staff members whether there would be a reauthorized Farm Bill anytime soon, the answers ranged from “yes” to “no” to “maybe.” Call us disappointed, seeing how important the Farm Bill is to clean water and the economy. Let’s hope Congress can put aside their differences and reauthorize the Farm Bill sooner rather than later.

Jennifer Quinn is PennFuture's central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator and works out of our Harrisburg office. She specializes in water quality issues.