The Honorable Robert Aderholt, Chairman
House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee

The Honorable John Hoeven, Chairman
Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee

The Honorable Sanford Bishop, Ranking Member
House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee

The Honorable Jeff Merkley, Ranking Member
Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee

Dear Chairman Aderholt, Chairman Hoeven, Ranking Member Bishop, and Ranking Member Merkley:

The undersigned organizations oppose re-opening the farm bill and thus urge you to protect farm bill conservation program mandatory funding as you consider agriculture appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2018.  We further urge you to reject the President’s proposal to cut NRCS field staff, as this would severely limit the delivery of conservation support for farmers and ranchers across the country. NRCS field staff provide direct technical assistance and planning services to farmers, and we urge you to provide at least $865 million in critical discretionary funding for Conservation Operations, including Conservation Technical Assistance.

The 2014 Farm Bill consolidated or eliminated nearly a dozen conservation programs and reduced mandatory conservation spending by $4 billion--$6 billion when sequestration is included.  The House and Senate Agriculture Committees did their parts to reduce federal spending and did so voluntarily.  The cuts contained in the farm bill, combined with changes in mandatory spending in appropriations bills, have already caused new enrollments in conservation programs to decline by millions of acres.  As a result of previous cuts to working lands conservation programs through annual funding legislation, USDA was forced to turn away three-quarters of the eligible applicants who applied to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

It is estimated that sequestration alone will cut $254 million from mandatory conservation spending in FY 2018.  Opening up the farm bill to further cut these programs should be off the table in the FY 2018 appropriations bill.  Additionally, as we approach the expiration of the 2014 Farm Bill, any cuts to mandatory spending that are made in FY 2018 will carry over into the baseline assumptions for the next farm bill.  A reduction in the CBO baseline for conservation programs will mean less money available for the next farm bill, thus further reducing available resources for conservation well into the future.

As you develop FY 2018 appropriations bills, we strongly urge you to reject any proposed cuts to mandatory conservation funding.  Funding for these programs is more important now than ever, as ripple effects from the recent downturn in the farm economy are being felt across rural America.  Conservation support for healthy soil, clean water, and overall farm viability is absolutely essential as farmers struggle to stay afloat.

Full funding for conservation programs such as CSP, EQIP, Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), is critical to enable farmers, ranchers, and foresters across the country to conserve water, maintain their soil, protect farmland and wetlands, create and maintain fish and wildlife habitat, and produce abundant food and fiber.  The funding already authorized for these programs should be protected as a vital investment in the infrastructure of rural America and in our future.

In addition to leaving farm bill conservation funding intact, we urge you to reject the President’s proposed cuts to NRCS field staff, and instead urge you to provide at least $865 million in discretionary funding for Conservation Operations, which includes critical funding for Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA). NRCS field staff provide direct technical assistance and planning support for farmers and ranchers across the country, and USDA’s ability to deliver conservation programs depends heavily on on-the-ground technical assistance.  CTA provides landowners with the site-specific solutions needed to implement conservation practices on their lands, while providing accountability to ensure maximum return on the public investment.  We must not hamstring our investment in conservation by under-funding technical assistance.

Any further cuts to voluntary conservation programs would leave producers high and dry when trying to build soil resilience, create and maintain habitat for threatened, endangered, or economically important fish and wildlife, and prepare for and manage drought and flooding.  As a direct result of any funding cuts, the number of qualified farmers denied access to the programs would grow even larger.   Less funding would lead to more pollution and more calls for regulation, as well as less productive and profitable farmlands as soil erodes and nutrients are lost.

As the Subcommittees develop FY 2018 appropriations bills, we urge you to keep the farm bill intact, to reject any cuts to conservation programs, and to provide at least $865 million in discretionary funding for Conservation Operations, including Conservation Technical Assistance.

Sincerely,



Cc: Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees