Response to Agriculture Secretary Johanns' Report on Bush Administration's Farm Bill Proposals by Environmental Defense Farm Policy Campaign Director, Scott Faber

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Scott Faber, (202) 230-1899, sfaber@environmentaldefense.org
Meg Little, (802) 598-6462, mlittle@environmentaldefense.org
Sharyn Stein, (202) 460-6512, sstein@environmentaldefense.org

“Secretary Johanns’ Farm Bill proposal recognizes that farm and food policies could help many more farmers and ranchers, could provide consumers more healthy food and renewable energy choices, and could do much more to reward farmers and ranchers when they take steps to help the environment. This year, we will turn away more than 50,000 farmers and ranchers offering to share the cost of clean water, clean air, and wildlife habitat because of our misplaced federal spending priorities.

“The next Farm Bill is a chance to help many more farmers, consumers, communities and the environment. Secretary Johanns has helped to lay the groundwork for farm and food policy reforms that will ensure that the next Farm Bill helps meet America’s pressing energy, health and environmental challenges. In particular, we applaud Secretary Johanns for proposing to increase spending on voluntary USDA conservation programs by $7.8 billion over 10 years. We also welcome any proposal to restructure our farm safety net to link income support to stewardship, to place reasonable limits on subsidy payments, and to deny income support to producers who plow up grasslands to plant crops.

“Finally, we applaud Secretary Johanns for increasing USDA investments in renewable energy development on our farms and ranches and to focus these investments on cellulosic ethanol. However, we oppose proposals to permit the production of energy feed stocks on lands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, the nation’s most successful conservation program.

“Secretary Johanns’ proposal is a step in the right direction, but Congress must go much further to make farm and food policies work for many more farmers, consumers, communities and the environment.”

This week, Environmental Defense proposed a dozen fresh ideas for farm and food policy. In particular, Environmental Defense proposed that:

• Farm policies dramatically increase USDA incentives to improve the stewardship of working lands, protect 10 millions acres of farm and ranchland from sprawl, and provide 20 percent of working lands funds to groups of producers meeting local environmental challenges through “cooperative conservation” agreements.
• Farm policies dramatically expand USDA grants and loans for renewable energy production on agricultural lands and link UDSA energy investments to an index of environmental benefits.
• Farm subsidies are gradually replaced with a system of farm income stabilization accounts linked to farm sales and stewardship that would be available to most producers.
• Farm policies help farmers get ready for a cap on carbon emissions by supporting initiatives to measure and reduce on-farm emissions and carbon sequestration.
• Farm policies help farmers make the transition to organic food production and expand program to promote healthy food choices, such as farm-to-school initiatives.
• Farm policies accelerate efforts to restore lost wetlands, floodplains and grasslands by focusing land retirement programs on environmentally-sensitive lands.
• Farm policies cultivate a new generation of stewards by providing grants and loans to new farmers, including new farm workers becoming farm owners and operators, in exchange for a commitment to good stewardship To read all dozen fresh ideas, visit www.environmentaldefense.org/go/farms/