Implementing the New Farm Bill: Year Three

Good morning. Thank you, Roger (Rainville). It is pleasure to be here today to represent Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman. I am honored to follow Lt. Gov. Dubie and Krysta Harden of NACD. I know Mike Domingue was hoping the Secretary could be here, but she couldn’t make it, so here I am in her place.

PL-566

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954. I will be in Iowa on Wednesday for an event commemorating the anniversary, and events are being held in several other States during the anniversary week.

It is appropriate that I mention the anniversary here in Vermont, because former senator George Aiken of Vermont was one of the sponsors of the Act – which was known as the Hope-Aiken Act.


Exciting Times for Conservation

These are exciting times for conservation in America. And I’m sure all of you in the Northeast States have had plenty to do as we have worked together to implement the 2002 farm bill.

The level of work has continued to build this year, and it will build even more next year. Not only does the Federal investment in conservation continue to increase each year through the life of the farm bill, but, we are also in the midst of implementing the Conservation Security Program -- CSP – probably the most exciting concept in the 2002 farm bill. And Conservation Districts continue to play an important role in making conservation happen on the ground throughout the country.

In February, I gave a speech at the NACD Annual Meeting in Hawaii titled “More, Faster, Better: The Path to Resource Driven and Locally Led Conservation.” The “More, Faster, Better” part of the title reflected the demands placed on all of us in implementing the farm bill.

In March, I attended NACD’s Spring Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. Gary Mast asked me to talk about “Conservation Priorities and Workload in 2004.” I could have talked about many things, including overall farm bill implementation. But, instead I focused on CSP, because getting CSP going this year is the most important addition to our workload – and the task that will have the greatest impact on the future of conservation in America. CSP will change the way we do conservation with a greater emphasis on conservation goals, rather than programs, and an increasing emphasis on local issues and local leadership.

CSP may be starting with a few thousand contracts in 18 watersheds around the country this year. But we expect it to be five times as big next year. And will soon be our largest working lands conservation program.


CSP Implementation

We published the interim final rule for CSP in June. That means we are both implementing the program and accepting public comments this summer. The due date for comments is September 20, and you should all comment.

Farmers in the 18 watersheds covered by CSP this year had until last Friday to apply. You only have one of these watersheds in the Northeast – in Pennsylvania. But next year, barring Congressional intervention, watersheds in every State will be involved. And there are things districts in all States can be doing now to help their producers and NRCS get ready to participate in CSP.


A New Approach.

CSP is a new approach. It will recognize conservation achievements on working farm and ranch lands by identifying and rewarding farmers and ranchers who are meeting high standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations.

CSP is a unique approach. No other Federal conservation program rewards agricultural producers for their overall conservation effort. CSP will help producers maintain existing conservation stewardship and make additional environmental gains by implementing additional conservation measures.

CSP will motivate producers to be better stewards. By recognizing producers who practice good stewardship and provide the environmental benefits that society expects, CSP provides strong incentives for producers to improve their stewardship sufficiently to fully participate in the program. In short, as Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has said, “CSP will reward the best and motivate the rest.”

The Self Assessment Process

A prime example of how CSP will affect NRCS is the self-assessment process. This is a new concept. Self assessment is possible largely because of improvements in eGovernment. Landowners now have on-line access to information and products when they want them and any time they want them. Not just 7:30 to 4 at the local office and Monday through Friday only.

Attracting New Customers

CSP is also a new approach to how we obtain customers. In the past, we would work with potential customers in an attempt to get them to a positive decision with regard to participation. With self assessment, our potential customers will go through much of this analysis themselves and arrive at a positive decision independent of us.

CSP creates an incentive environment in which producers are “pulled toward,” greater conservation effort -- and thus choose to seek out opportunities to do more. This contrasts with regulatory approaches in which producers are “pushed towards” solutions by external forces.

Because CSP is a resource-based enhancement program, producers on all types of agricultural uses and agricultural operations will be eligible to enroll, which is good for producers in the Northeast.

Demand or desire to get into CSP will cause people to look closely at their current conservation system and where they have treatment needs. It will lead them to EQIP, WHIP, continuous CRP,
and many State and local conservation programs. Landowners who are not immediately eligible for CSP – can participate in other programs and conservation options as they work their way toward the promise of CSP.

Conservation Districts will play an important part in helping producers understand this new approach to conservation and in guiding them through the process -- both of becoming eligible for CSP and of becoming a CSP participant.


Farm Bill Implementation

CSP is not the only thing we have been working on this year. We have also been working hard to get the word out on Conservation Technical Assistance and farm bill programs, get the conservation done on the ground (first for 2002, 2003, and now for 2004), write the rules for farm bill programs (You know, we only have a handful of rules remaining to be completed. We got through the rulemaking process in record time.), and implement the Technical Service Provider process.

Getting the Conservation on the Ground

One of our major tasks has been putting the conservation on the ground. During the first year of the 2002 farm bill, we were quite late in getting the money out to the States, but that situation has improved each year since then. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment Mark Rey announced this year’s release of funds to the States on January 28.

And what a year it has been. NRCS and its partners will invest more than $2.5 billion in conservation this year.

We are 60 days from the end of the fiscal year. This is when we sweep the corners of the bins for those last resources. Our sweeps have produced more than $27 million in allocations over the last three weeks, including

• Additional EQIP funds allocated to fund additional contracts in States where program management has been outstanding. Here in the Northeast, Maine got nearly a million dollars because of the outstanding job done by State Conservationist Joyce Swartzendruber and her staff.

• Last Friday, Secretary Veneman announced additional EQIP dollars in several States, including two states here in the Northeast: $1/2million for New York and $3/4 million for Pennsylvania.

• The Secretary also announced additional funding for Farm and Ranch Land Protection Easements in several states, including Connecticut, $218,870; Maryland, $419,903; Massachusetts, $300,245; New Hampshire, $228,027; New Jersey, $360,591; New York, $244,330; Rhode Island, $192,313; Vermont, $234,110; and West Virginia, $127,152.


Accomplishments

NRCS and the partners had many accomplishments in FY 2003.

• Providing conservation technical assistance.
• Completing plans for resource management systems on more than 17 million acres.
• Developing and applying more than 8,000 comprehensive nutrient management plans.
• Serving nearly 3.8 million customers around the country.
• Completing or updating soil survey mapping on 22.5 million acres.
• Gathering employee suggestions to streamline program delivery.
• Working toward implementing the President’s management initiatives.
• For the second year in a row, our Earth Team volunteers contributed more than a million hours of their time.


OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

We still have a lot to do to implement the farm bill over the next few years. In addition to reaching out to all producers, including underserved groups within the agriculture community, we must also make sure the applications we approve meet local and national priorities and invest the conservation dollar wisely to get the most conservation done.

Focusing On Conservation Goals

In setting and meeting priorities, we have to focus more on conservation goals and less on programs. We must get as much good, priority-based conservation done on the ground as we can.

Getting More Conservation Done

We need to look carefully at applications in a number of ways to be sure we are getting the most for the taxpayer dollar. We also need to look at other sources of funds to see how to leverage the Federal dollar.

The Federal government and the producers can get more conservation done when the cost is shared several ways. For example, we announced some new programs about a year ago:

• Conservation Partnership Initiative Grants of $100,000 to $200,000 to help farmers and ranchers in achieving critical conservation goals and the protection of natural resources

• Conservation Innovation Grants for public-private partnerships to accelerate technology transfer and implement promising technologies,"

We also have increasing numbers of cooperative agreements to share the cost of conservation.


CONCLUSION

To summarize, let me say that we have made a strong start toward implementing the new farm bill, with its tremendous investment in conservation on working lands. But to be successful in the long run, we need to be more strategic. We need to make sure every producer knows about the farm bill and has a chance to participate. We depend on the continued efforts of conservation districts to help get the word out.

We need to focus more on overall conservation goals and less on program implementation. I mentioned that NRCS needs to focus on accepting applications that meet local and national priorities. Conservation districts can help spread the word on these priorities.

And finally, we need to get the most conservation done that we can for the money. We need to use incentives properly, and we need to leverage the Federal funding. Conservation districts can help by developing new partnerships.

As we add more partners, NRCS will increasingly serve as a conservation catalyst, an enabler of good conservation. Working together, we can make the right choices, get more conservation on the ground, and make the farm bill live up to its potential. Together we can all help producers achieve excellence in conservation. Working together, we can make that next golden age of conservation a reality.

Thank you.