If farm bill negotiators allow “anti-environment policy riders” into the bill’s final version, they can expect protracted debate and possible defeat of the panoramic legislation, said 38 Democratic senators on Thursday. In a letter, the senators said that “the House farm bill contains a number of damaging anti-environment provisions that now make meeting the upcoming reauthorization exceedingly difficult.”
The letter to House and Senate negotiators did not specify the objectionable provisions “spread through the forestry, horticulture, and miscellaneous titles of the House bill.” Their presence “complicates the bipartisan cooperation needed to pass a final conference report,” said the senators.
Meanwhile, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said that 18 states “with high-level conservation needs will lose billions in federal funding” under the House farm bill, which would eliminate the green-payment Conservation Stewardship Program and reduce funding overall for soil, water, and wildlife improvements on working lands. The Union of Concerned Scientists says the CSP generates $3.95 in benefits for each dollar of federal spending.