Farm, wildlife, and environmental groups, from the Sierra Club to the National Farmers Union, on Wednesday called on lawmakers to increase funding for USDA land stewardship programs by $50 billion. The money would be part of the budget reconciliation bill that would accompany the infrastructure bill now under debate in the Senate.
“Our current programs meet only a fraction of the need for voluntary conservation on the landscape,” said a letter signed by 216 groups, including four dozen national organizations. “That’s why we are urging Congress to double the investment in farm bill conservation programs and ramp up conservation technical assistance funding in a corresponding manner.”
Farm policy consultant Ferd Hoefner said a doubling in funding would amount to $50 billion over 10 years, which he called “a very significant investment.”
President Biden proposed a modest increase in land stewardship spending, around $300 million a year, in his long-delayed budget in May. Advocates of soil and water conservation say larger outlays are needed to meet Biden’s goal of U.S. agriculture being first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases.