ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP (AES)
OTHER RESOURCES
Steve Shaffer, Director
1220 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
ph: (916) 657-4956
fax: (916) 657-5017
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FARM BILL: Conservation Opportunities
Every five to six years Congress passes a package of agricultural policies and programs commonly known as the "Farm Bill." In 2002, the most recent version of the Farm Bill, formally titled the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, was enacted. The Farm Bill typically includes policies and programs dealing with trade, commodity supplies, crop insurance, health, nutrition, energy, rural development, research and other aspects of food production and safety. Since 1985, the Farm Bill has included significant policies and programs on resource conservation, programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), primarily by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Farm Services Agency (FSA).
Past Farm Bill conservation programs have been intentionally linked to commodity crop benefits that growers receive from other programs of the Farm Bill. For example, the Conservation Reserve Program targets the retirement of erosion-prone lands that have a history of growing USDA commodity crop support programs. Typical Farm Bill commodity crops include corn, soybeans and wheat. Except for a few crops like cotton and rice, California's agriculture is not based on USDA commodity crops, but on specialty crops. Therefore, California growers have not been major participants in Farm Bill programs. Nor has California received a significant share of the Farm Bill's conservation funding relative to its national stature as a domestic and international food producer. California is by far the number one agricultural state in crop value and contributes well over 10 percent of the Nation's agricultural export, yet has received only two to four percent of the Farm Bill's conservation funding over the past 20 years.
The 2002 Farm Bill provides an opportunity to correct this imbalance with new and revised conservation programs. The new package of conservation measures provides greater flexibility, expanded avenues for participation by non-commodity crop producers, and more local and state discretion on administration, with greater stakeholder input. The major programs include:
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