By Megnot Mulugeta
Congress should ensure the 2023 Farm Bill provides adequate funding for conservation title programs to meet producer demand, safeguards historic climate-smart agriculture funding, includes key conservation provisions for wildlife, and addresses historical inequities that persist for historically underserved producers. The National Wildlife Federation laid out these and other priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill in a newly unveiled platform.
“Farmers and ranchers are critical partners in deploying solutions that recover imperiled wildlife and help reduce climate impacts. This platform provides strategies that will equip farmers and ranchers with the resources needed to remain economically viable while restoring healthy soils, improving water quality and quantity, creating habitat for wildlife, and sequestering carbon,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “By including these priorities in the Farm Bill and building upon the historic $20 billion investment included in the Inflation Reduction Act, we can ensure the productivity and profitability of resilient farms and ranches, while supporting healthy ecosystems and communities.”
The platform includes recommendations, such as:
● Ensuring that funding and provisions for conservation agriculture provided by the Inflation Reduction Act is safeguarded for farmers and ranchers
● Preventing conversion of native grasslands and saving taxpayer dollars through a nationwide Sodsaver provision
● Addressing historical inequities in agriculture conservation through improving the accessibility of conservation program delivery and technical assistance
● Maintaining conservation compliance provisions that protect soils and wetlands
● Providing incentives for voluntarily implementing practices that promote habitat connectivity and restoration, advanced grazing practices, and carbon sequestration
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