by Greg Fogel, policy associate at National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Since April of this year, Congress has cut funding for Farm Bill conservation programs by more than $500 million and plans to cut an additional $700 million to $1 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2012.
While a FY 2012 funding package has not yet finalized, the House of Representatives has already passed its version of the bill, which would cut conservation programs by $1 billion. The Senate is slated to vote this month on its own funding bill, which also contains more than $700 million in cuts to conservation. These massive cuts are bad enough on their own. They are made worse, however, by the fact that conservation and renewable energy were the only Farm Bill “mandatory” programs cut. Commodity, crop insurance, and export subsidies were left completely unscathed.
Why congressional appropriators have chosen to target conservation programs we do not know. What we do know is that threats to the sustainable agriculture and food systems movement continue to mount.
While the House and Senate work to finalize their FY 2012 funding package over the next month, a congressional supercommittee tasked with coming up with at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings by November 23, held its first meeting this month. The supercommittee was created last month when Congress passed a deficit reduction bill called the Budget Control Act of 2011. There is a very real possibility that the decisions of the supercommittee will lead to a long-term reduction in funding for programs that promote conservation on private lands and help build local and regional food systems.
Over the next two months the supercommittee will consider what cuts to make to Farm Bill programs. Given the attack on conservation throughout the FY 2011 and FY 2012 appropriations process, we hope the supercommittee is paying attention: mandatory conservation programs have already been forced to scale back. These programs are critical to improving water and air quality, reversing the loss of wetlands and wildlife habitat, protecting soil and farmland to provide lasting food security, and bringing important money and jobs to rural America.  If we don’t invest in protecting our natural resource base, long term costs with respect to food security and environmental mitigation efforts will far outstrip the cost of today’s targeted investment. Any further Farm Bill mandatory spending cuts included in the supercommittee’s recommendations should come from other Farm Bill titles.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) is an alliance of grassroots organizations that advocates for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities. NSAC’s vision of agriculture is one where a safe, nutritious, ample, and affordable food supply is produced by family farmers who make a decent living pursuing their trade, while protecting the environment, and contributing to the strength and stability of their communities.
