CONTACT:
Brad Redlin, Izaak Walton League, 651-649-1446
Mike McGrath, Minnesota Project, 507-421-1343
Adam Warthesen, Land Stewardship Project, 612-722-6377

10/11/06
ST. PAUL , Minn.— Members of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in Minnesota and across the country today released a comprehensive package of proposed reforms for the 2007 Farm Bill.  The groups have also issued a report card on the performance of 10 key components of the 2002 Farm Bill. The Coalition gave Congress a D+ and the Bush Administration a C- for their implementation of the Farm Bill.

The platform, No Time for Delay, calls on Congress to embrace reform and construct new policies and programs that promote economic opportunity, environmental stewardship and rural prosperity. The Coalition urges the federal government to adopt a series of key policies that are urgently needed to help new farmers enter agriculture, promote profitable family farms, enhance the environment and build healthy, diversified rural economies.

“This package of reforms holds great promise for increasing conservation and protection of our natural resources while supporting smart polices that help family farmers and other people making a living on the land,” said Brad Redlin, the Izaak Walton League’s Director of Agriculture Programs. “Farm Bill reauthorization is scheduled for 2007 and this is the best platform of reforms I’ve seen so far.”

One of the most critical reforms the Minnesota conservation farm groups are supporting is expanding and fully funding the Conservation Security Program (CSP). No Time for Delay calls for making this program the primary agriculture stewardship incentive program in the Farm Bill, available to producers nationwide and on a continuous basis.

“There is a strong consensus from many groups in Minnesota that a top priority in the next Farm Bill is a bigger and better Conservation Security Program,” said Mike McGrath, Agriculture Policy Specialist for the Minnesota Project. “This is how we are going to send farmers the right signal – we want to reward conservation, not just all-out production.”

Since 2004, CSP has delivered over $5.6 million to more than 700 Minnesota farmers in seven watersheds for practices that protect soil and water quality as well as promote habitat restoration for wildlife. Yet because of a confusing rule-making process and consistent raiding of CSP dollars by Congress, the program has not yet reached its full potential.

“Leveling the playing field with a program that supports conservation practices on the land you’re farming is critical,” said Bill Gorman, a Goodhue, Minn., area dairy farmer and Land Stewardship Project Federal Farm Policy Committee member. “A new and improved Conservation Security Program is that program. Making it available to all farmers consistently and providing some real dedicated funding is what Congress needs to do.”

The inadequate implementation of CSP and consistent cutting of funds by appropriators is one of the reasons Congress and the Administration did so poorly on the Coalition’s Farm Bill report card.

No Time for Delay also calls for the next Farm Bill to support a new generation of farmers and ranchers.  Identifying and solving barriers new and beginning farmers face is a key component of the platform. One such effort is reauthorization and adequate funding of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, a competitive grants program that supports community-based efforts to develop networks and mentoring programs for beginning farmers. Coupled with policies that start to address access to credit and land, as well as innovative savings opportunities for new farmers, this package of proposals is being referred to by some groups as the Beginning Farmer Act. Such legislation is leveraging support from members of Congress in the Upper Midwest and could be introduced this year and incorporated into the 2007 Farm Bill.

“Contrary to what some say, there are people who want to get started farming,” said Land Stewardship Project member John Schmidt, who is currently raising beef cattle near Marietta, Minn., and looking to re-enter dairy farming with a low-input system. “We need a Farm Bill that opens doors for new farmers, not one that shuts them.”

The package of reforms also contains a number of other policy options such as: establishing new entrepreneurial development and asset building programs to strengthen rural economies; providing research, marketing and production assistance for organic farmers and farmers wanting to convert their farm to organically certifiable practices; and supporting renewable energy through an innovation grants program.

The Farm Bill debate is anticipated to accelerate early next year when the new Congressional session begins. Both the House and the Senate have already held a series of hearings on the direction of the next Farm Bill.

The Report Card and the full text of No Time for Delay: A Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for the 2007 Farm Bill are posted at http://www.msawg.org/key-farmbill.html.

The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition represents grassroots farm, rural and conservation organizations from across the country that together advocate for federal policies and programs supporting the long-term economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources and rural communities.

The Land Stewardship Project is a membership-based organization with a mission to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, promote sustainable agriculture and develop sustainable communities.  For more information, visit www.landstewardshipproject.org.

The Minnesota Project is a nonprofit public policy organization that works for strong local economies, vibrant communities and a healthy environment.  For more information, visit www.mnproject.org.

The Izaak Walton League, founded in 1922, is dedicated to common sense conservation that protects America's hunting, fishing and outdoor heritage, relying on solution-oriented conservation, education and the promotion of outdoor recreation for the benefit of our citizens.  For more information visit www.iwla.org.

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