The Farmland Protection Program: An Important Part of the 2002 Farm Bill

Excerpts from remarks by Assistant Secretary Lou Gallegos, U.S. Department of Agriculture
May 9, 2003

*Name changed to Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program effective May 16, 2003


[O]ne year ago on May 13 . . . the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 -- the 2002 Farm Bill -- became law. Once Congress passed the bill and President Bush signed it, our job was to effectively and efficiently deliver the new programs and services to this nation’s farmers, ranchers and other constituencies around the country.

We have been working very hard at USDA to do just that.

In signing the Farm Bill, President Bush said “American farm and ranch families embody some of the best values of our nation: hard work and risk-taking, love of the land and love of our country. Farming is the first industry of America -- the industry that feeds us, the industry that clothes us, and the industry that increasingly provides more of our energy. The success of America’s farmers and ranchers is essential to the success of the American economy.”

The 2002 Farm Bill provides record support for conservation. It adds new programs to preserve wetlands, and improve soil and water quality on working farms. The conservation program funding adds up to an additional $18.5 billion over the next ten years.

. . . [T]he Farm Bill continued the Farmland Protection Program, which plays an important role in ensuring that lands . . . stay in agriculture and provide open spaces for future generations.

. . . [T]he same areas that are best suited to agriculture are often where urbanizing pressures are greatest. It is estimated we are losing two acres of farmland every minute of every day in America.

The Farmland Protection Program authorizes the Federal government to enter into agreements with States, tribes, local governments and non-governmental organizations to share in the costs of acquiring conservation easements.

Through the end of the last Federal fiscal year, we had easements in place or in process on more than 170,000 acres on 890 farms. These easements were worth nearly $350 million. USDA recently released more than $67 million in FPP funds nationwide for the current fiscal year. . . .

FPP is a voluntary program that acquires perpetual conservation easements on farm and ranch lands that contain productive soil, or historical and archaeological resources.

To be eligible, farm and ranch lands also must be considered part of a pending easement offer by a State, Tribal, local government or nongovernmental organization; large enough to sustain agricultural production; and surrounded by parcels of land that can support long-term agricultural production.

FPP is based on partnerships, and partnerships, I always say, are golden. For every Federal dollar invested through FPP, participating State and local governmental entities and non-governmental organizations have contributed $3.45.

. . . Keeping this land in agriculture will help preserve agricultural, historical and natural resources.

In addition to providing food and fiber, well-managed agricultural lands produce a wide range of environmental benefits, from wildlife habitat, to water recharge, to scenic open space. To save our agricultural resources for future generations, we must continue to build on state and local farmland protection programs.