Conservation Practices from Farms to Forests and Wetlands

Farm Bill in Focus

Find out more about the briefings in this series below: The Process and Path Forward for Passing a Bipartisan Farm Bill Climate, Energy, and Economic Win-Wins in the Farm Bill Unlocking Rural Economies: Farm Bill Investments in Rural America The Future of Forestry in the Farm Bill Conservation Practices from Farms to Forests and Wetlands

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to learn from our briefing on opportunities to cultivate climate-smart conservation programs in this year’s Farm Bill. The conservation title of the Farm Bill contains important programs and policies that help agricultural producers, forest managers, and rural communities take advantage of opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to climate impacts, while also generating other benefits such as improved water and air quality, soil health, biodiversity, and jobs.

Conservation of private, public, working, and nonworking lands can take many forms, from regenerative agricultural practices to conservation easements. Panelists described conservation opportunities, barriers to access the many Farm Bill conservation-related programs, as well as ways to advance conservation through research, technical assistance, and financial support.

 

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers opportunities and assistance for agricultural producers to adopt sustainable soil management and other conservation practices. These programs are locally-implemented and operate on well-vetted, science-based standards. American Farmland Trust’s recent report, Improving on and Increasing Access to Conservation Programs in the Next Farm Bill, provides suggestions on how to further strengthen these programs. Floodplains provide benefits such as carbon sequestration, water filtration, and economic opportunities. A report by American Rivers, The Multiple Benefits of Floodplain Easements, highlights the utility of placing flood-prone agricultural land under permanent conservation. Conservation practices used in agroecology—including the introduction of native plants and the use of cover crops—mimic natural ecosystems, which cultivates a diverse agricultural landscape. These methods also work to conserve water, prevent and mitigate erosion, and build resilience to droughts and floods. The 574 tribes remaining in the United States hold ancient ecological knowledge of the land, and accordingly are key to the success of government conservation efforts. Tribes also require funding, technical assistance, training, and capacity-building to support the conservation goals of the federal government.

 

Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Representative (R-S.C.)

• The convergence of energy and environment are paramount to our nation’s future.
• Conservation, green energy efforts, and protecting the environment are important for the state of South Carolina.

 

Rep. Sharice Davids, U.S. Representative (D-Kan.)

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA's) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) empower agricultural producers to mitigate climate change and feed the world.
• The conservation title of the Farm Bill has long enjoyed bipartisan support. Congress must work across the aisle to ensure that programs within this title are preserved.

 

Samantha Levy, Conservation and Climate Policy Manager, American Farmland Trust

• Soil health can be improved and maintained through practices that minimize soil disturbance (such as no-till farming practices) and maximize biodiversity, soil cover, and living roots (such as crop rotation and cover crop application).
• Maintaining healthy soil is key to agricultural longevity. Sustainable soil practices have been shown to increase yields, increase organic matter, and reduce costs, leading to a $3 return for every $1 invested.
• Maintaining soil health also produces climate and ecological benefits, promoting carbon sequestration, improving water quality, reducing erosion, and building resilience to drought, flooding, and other natural disasters.
• The study, Climate Change and Agricultural Risk Management into the 21st Century, found that crop insurance program costs are expected to rise an estimated 37 percent under current agriculture management schemes, but if adaptation practices are implemented on farms, that rise in cost could be limited to 22 percent.
• In 2017, only six percent of eligible acres were planted with cover crops. Lack of access to information and skills training, lack of incentive to change agricultural practices, and high costs for equipment and seeds inhibit more widespread application.
• USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers opportunities and assistance for agricultural producers to adopt sustainable soil management practices through programs such as the CRP, EQIP, the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and the Regional Conservation Partnership Programs (RCPP).
• These programs are locally-implemented and operate on well-vetted, science-based standards.
• American Farmland Trust’s recent white paper, Improving on and Increasing Access to Conservation Programs in the Next Farm Bill, found that these same programs are also highly oversubscribed, have lengthy application processes, and have fallen short of providing equitable support. Between 2010 to 2020, only 30 percent of EQIP applications were funded. From 2009 to 2018, only 17 to 27 percent of funding went to soil health initiatives.
• Sustainable increases in funding for financial and technical assistance for agricultural workers (in addition to the support from the Inflation Reduction Act), as well as streamlining program implementation, would help to improve the programs.
• Farmer-to-farmer learning can bridge information, adoption, culture, and cost barriers as well as address land tenure issues.
• Fifty percent of farmers learn about conservation practices from other farmers. Farmer-to-farmer learning can be built into the Farm Bill, with a fund-matching program for local, state, and tribal programs. The Agriculture Resilience Act (R.1840/S.1016), the Naturally Offsetting Emissions by Managing and Implementing Tillage Strategies (NO EMITs) Act (H.R.4163), and the Office of Small Farms Establishment Act (H.R.3877/S.1809) are also designed to address these issues.

 

Eileen Shader, Director, River Restoration, American Rivers

• Floodplains are ecosystems along water bodies that experience regular flooding. These ecosystems typically host a diverse breadth of wildlife, but they have been historically undervalued.
• Floodplains provide benefits such as carbon sequestration, water filtration, and economic opportunities. Wetlands, which can exist within floodplains, slow the flow of water, mitigating flood damage.
• Under the USDA’s Floodplain Easement Program, NRCS places an easement on agricultural land and partners with the landowner to restore the land’s natural habitat and improve its resilience and hydrology.
• A report by American Rivers, The Multiple Benefits of Floodplain Easements, highlights the utility of placing flood-prone agricultural land under permanent conservation.
• A case study of Dogtooth Bend, Illinois, a small community along the Mississippi River, examined its experience dealing with repeated levee breaches. Faced with the difficulty of adapting to these occurrences, the town’s agricultural workers decided to put the land under permanent conservation.
• Because the Floodplain Easement Program is designated as an emergency program, funding is only appropriated following major disasters.
• Flooding in the Upper Mississippi Basin has caused 2,512 agriculture disasters in recent years, only one of which was awarded disaster funding through the program.
• Floodplain easement enrollments have been very low compared to the occurrence of agricultural disasters, leaving a significant demand for easement support that has remained largely unmet.
• As flooding continues to increase in frequency, the costs associated with flood damage are also rising. These costs are reflected on taxpayers. While flooding occurs more frequently than drought, it receives less disaster funding.
• Floodplain easements work to reduce these costs while restoring ecosystems.
• Legislative and regulatory solutions have the opportunity to prioritize properties that experience repetitive loss for the easement program. These policies are easy to implement, and they direct funds to where they are most needed.

 

Paola Ivette Bonilla Carrero, Agronomist in Puerto Rico; Member, Hispanic Access Foundation's Latino Climate Council

• Agroecology is a holistic and inclusive approach to farming that integrates ancestral and ecological knowledge into farming practices.
• By prioritizing conservation, efficiency, and social equity, agroecology ensures long-term agricultural viability.
• Agroecology prioritizes food sovereignty, the fundamental human right to adequate, culturally appropriate, affordable, and healthy food.
• Conservation practices used in agroecology—including the introduction of native plants and the use of cover crops—mimic natural ecosystems, which cultivates a diverse agricultural landscape. These methods also work to conserve water, prevent and mitigate erosion, and build resilience to droughts and floods.
• Agroecology has seen success in farms across Puerto Rico. In one case study, Finca el Timón in Lares, Puerto Rico, reintegrated native livestock, which were used to produce cheese products, till the land, and fertilize the soil. The use of native livestock was more cost effective than using heavy machinery.
• Finca Plenitud in Las Marias, Puerto Rico, practices contour farming, planting the land in a way that leverages the topography of the natural landscape. In working with the land, rather than against it, farmers at Finca Plenitud reduce soil erosion and rely on gravity to naturally manage rainwater for crops.
• USDA conservation programs have helped agricultural producers in Puerto Rico to farm sustainably. For example, the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Tree/Shrub Site Preparation Program assisted Las Finqueras, Corp., with planting trees to reduce heat stress in livestock. USDA also helped plant biomass and implement prescribed grazing.
• In Puerto Rico, regulatory and legislative obstacles such as land tenure issues and the Jones Act have hindered sustainably-minded farmers’ ability to compete in the market.
• Agriculture policies should expand access to technical assistance and education, incentivize conservation practices, increase climate resilience, and prioritize small-scale producers.

 

Bennae Calac, President, Onoo Po Strategies

• Onoo Po Strategies facilitates vital tribal engagement with federal, state, and local governments.
• The relocation of tribes by the federal government between 1828 and 1887 had lasting impacts on their capacity to manage and cultivate their land, as they were removed from lands to which they had cultural ties. The period of allotment and assimilation that followed fostered a dissociation with the land, as communities had to learn to engage with a new landscape. The policies surrounding reservation allotments from that time continue to bar tribes from access to crop and disaster insurance today.
• The 574 tribes remaining in the United States hold ancient ecological knowledge of the land and are therefore key to the success of government conservation efforts. Currently, only about 20 percent of those tribes are benefiting from federal conservation programs.
• The government must engage tribal leaders and technical experts to disseminate existing regulatory conservation efforts and seek feedback on them, learn about tribal priorities, and garner tribal perspectives on conservation opportunities. All tribal communities are different and will have different and important ideas and input.
• Tribes require funding, technical assistance, training, and capacity-building to support the conservation goals of the federal government and non-governmental organizations.
• In giving tribal communities a seat at the decision-making table, the federal government must also give them the capacity to make and implement those decisions.

 

 

Q & A

 

Q: If you could change one thing about existing conservation programs, what would it be?

Levy:

• American Farmland Trust’s white paper has more information on this subject. A key change would be to promote farmer-to-farmer learning, and go beyond technical assistance to strengthen capacity for communities that have historically been barred from accessing federal resources.

Shader:

• American Rivers would like NRCS and other federal programs to work “with rivers,” and understand them as dynamic systems that are critical to our clean water. Programs should also bolster river health and riparian easements wherever possible.

Bonilla Carrero:

• Conservation programs could prioritize reparations for farmers of insular territories such as Puerto Rico. There are often other struggles Puerto Rican farmers need to overcome before they are able to engage in conservation practices.
• Past implementation of USDA agricultural programs has resulted in marginalization. Going forward, programs should be implemented with a focus on equity over equality.

Calac:

• The USDA could take a grassroots approach to conservation efforts. These programs create opportunities, equity, and growth, but they can also catalyze policy fights between large farmers and smaller farmers, so a holistic approach is needed.

 

Compiled by Nicole Pouy and Parthav Easwar and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.