ACTION ALERT:
Stop Factory Farm Handouts in the Farm Bill—
Support Stewardship on the Land

9/5/07
Over the next two weeks, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, on which both Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) serve, will be debating the new Farm Bill.  Now is the time to contact them. They need to hear from you about the policies and programs that will help family farmers, protect our soil and water, and encourage stewardship and conservation on working farmland. Please see below for a basic message on two key issues.

Conservation spending should produce positive conservation results – not environmental hazards. 

One of the programs factory farms have been using to build and expand in the name of “conservation” is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  EQIP was developed to provide cost-share grants for implementing conservation practices, and has been used by many family farmers to do solid environmental improvements.  But since 2002, new and expanding factory farms have been able to receive up to $450,000 in taxpayer dollars through EQIP to construct manure lagoons.  Instead of addressing environmental problems, these dollars are being used to create pollution hazards. 

In the 2007 Farm Bill, Congress should enact a 5-year $100,000 payment limit on EQIP.  A stronger cap will mean more farmers can use the good aspects of this program and implement effective conservation on their farms, because the dollars can be distributed to more farmers.  For example, the average EQIP contract in Minnesota for fiscal year 2007 was approximately $15,000. Yet even in Minnesota, where demand for EQIP resources is high, a single large dairy received a contract worth $284,000 for a “manure management system.” We need a stronger payment limit to make this program more equitable and effective.

The value of the Conservation Security Program

A major initiative to improve conservation on working farmland is the Conservation Security Program (CSP), which makes payments to farmers based on the environmental benefits they produce by the way they farm.  Congress needs to reinvest in CSP in the 2007 Farm Bill. This program rewards real conservation outcomes and encourages farmers working on the land to do more. The Conservation Security Program needs to be a major component of the Farm Bill and should be properly funded and implemented so many, many more farmers have an opportunity to enroll.  Rather than voting for a big funding increase for EQIP, Congress should maintain EQIP at current levels (approximately $1.2 billion a year) while enacting stronger payment limits on the program, and allocate additional resources to the outcomes-based and historically underfunded CSP.

Contact Your U.S. Senators Today:

America needs a Farm Bill that makes the best use of available conservation dollars!

Senator Amy Klobuchar                  Senator Norm Coleman
202-224-3244                                    202-224-5641

Tell your Senators to:

When you call, ask to talk with the agriculture aide.  If they are unavailable, tell whomever answers the telephone that you want to leave a message for the Senator.  Ask them to write down your note and make sure to say who you are and where you’re from.  If you have to, it’s okay to leave a message on a machine. 

The most important thing is that you call!!  If you have any questions or receive feedback from the Senate offices, please feel free to contact the Land Stewardship Project at 612-722-6377.