Some 644 environmental, farm, religious, wildlife and recreation groups urged the leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees on Monday to protect the $20 billion earmarked last summer for climate-smart agriculture from farm-bill raids. “This is the largest investment in agriculture conservation and rural communities in decades and farmers, ranchers and foresters across the country are depending on these resources,” said the groups in a letter.
The funding would allow a large increase in USDA outlays on land stewardship, now running around $5 billion a year. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the letter reflected “overwhelming support for climate-focused spending in conservation programs.”
Funding is expected to be tight for the farm bill, so there could be attempts to shift some of the money to other uses. In addition, some Farm Belt lawmakers are climate change skeptics.