Major Win in Senate Farm Bill, Challenges Loom in House

The League and a diverse coalition of conservation, hunting and angling, and sustainable agriculture groups won a major victory in June when the Senate approved an amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill re-establishing the connection between conservation compliance and federal subsidies for crop insurance premiums. The bi-partisan vote (52-47) is a clear victory for conservation and taxpayers.

Taxpayer subsidies for crop insurance premiums have steadily grown, totaling $7.4 billion in 2011. However, unlike many traditional farm support payments, eligibility for crop insurance premium subsidies is not tied to meeting basic conservation standards known as "conservation compliance." These standards are designed to reduce soil erosion and conserve wetlands.

This disconnect is even more worrisome because the Senate Farm Bill eliminates many traditional support programs (which had conservation requirements), instead placing greater emphasis on crop insurance as the means of providing taxpayer support to farmers. The Senate amendment addressed this problem by applying existing conservation compliance standards to crop insurance premium payments. (Read more about this issue in our "Insuring" Farming and Conservation Success fact sheet.)

The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to debate and vote its bill this month. The League is concerned about several provisions in a draft bill released by the committee July 5. Unlike the Senate bill, the House version does not include a nationwide Sodsaver provision to conserve native grasslands. Instead, it proposes a badly flawed regional approach limited to the prairie pothole region of the northern plains.

Native grassland needs to be conserved across the country. Only portions of South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and western Minnesota lie within the pothole region. As a result, under the House bill, different standards would apply to grassland conversion within the same state and even neighboring counties. That's not workable and it doesn't make sense. (Read our Sodsaver: Cost-Effective Conservation fact sheet for more details.)

This House bill also fails to address conservation compliance and crop insurance. Tackling that will require an amendment when the full House considers the bill. We rallied League members in support of the Senate amendment and will need to do the same to be successful on a House vote. Watch for Action Alerts on this and other Farm Bill issues and weigh in with your Representative. These issues affect conservation and taxpayers alike.

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The Izaak Walton League of America is now part of the Recycling for Charities program. For each wireless electronic item donated, Recycling for Charities will contribute a minimum of one dollar (more depending on the item) to the League.