On April 26, American Farmland Trust President Jon Scholl appeared in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry to testify on Formulation of the 2012 Farm Bill: Conservation Programs. In describing farm bill conservation programs, Scholl explains:
“These programs are critically important tools for meeting conservation challenges. Our farmers and ranchers face great pressure to produce food, fiber and fuel while maintaining healthy soils, protecting water quality and providing wildlife habitat. Rapidly rising world food demand creates incredible economic opportunity for agriculture, but also makes it even more imperative for us to address the conservation challenges we face here at home.”
Scholl’s testimony urged completion of a Farm Bill this year. Other key points included:
- the importance of including strong conservation funding;
- support for a farm and ranch land protection easement program in the farm bill;
- support for the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program that gives local producers and conservationists a tool to address natural resource concerns;
- and that conservation compliance should continue to be attached to the centerpiece of the farm safety net, as it has been in the past, which in this environment means reattaching to the crop insurance premium subsidy.
Download the audio/video from the day’s testimonies or read Scholl’s full testimony on farm bill conservation programs.
