Cattle Producers and the Environment

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service,at the Cattle Industry National Convention Property Rights and Environmental Management Committee Meeting

San Antonio, TX
February 4, 2005

Thank you, Preston (Wright), for that introduction and for inviting me to meet with the Property Rights and Environmental Management Committee again this year. It was a pleasure to meet with you last year in Phoenix.

I was happy to be able to help present the Environmental Stewardship Awards last night and proud that NRCS continues to be a sponsor of the program. Last year, Chandler Keys and I signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the general framework for cooperation between the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The MOU, which is still in effect, defines how NRCS and NCBA work together to promote the conservation and stewardship of natural resources on private lands.

We have continued to improve our working relationship during the past year. NCBA regularly attends the meetings of the Agricultural Air Quality Task Force. You have provided valuable feedback on all new and revised rules. You are on the blue ribbon panel for the Conservation Effects Assessment Project, which will help identify and measure the benefits of conservation programs. We have worked together to increase awareness of the contributions of cattle producers to the environment through the Environmental Stewardship Awards Program.

The MOU worked well last year; so we will continue this working relationship through an amendment, rather than having to write a new MOU. The amendment will continue our support of the Environmental Stewardship Awards Program, bringing our total support to $300,000.

I want to acknowledge Dennis Thompson of NRCS for his work as the authorized NRCS representative to the NCBA office in Washington, DC.

It is a pleasure to be here to talk with the members of the Property Rights and Environmental Management Committee.


The Federal Conservation Budget

These continue to be exciting times for conservation in America. NRCS funding for conservation this fiscal year is approaching $2.8 billon. Each year since the 2002 farm bill became law, we have been able improve our timeliness in getting the program funds out to the States.

This Fiscal Year, we released most of the program dollars before the end of October. That means local producers all across the nation have the information they need to be able to submit their applications for conservation programs during the winter, rather than competing with the time demands of spring and summer faced by all agricultural operations.

I would love to be able to tell you what the Federal conservation budget looks like for the 2006 fiscal year, but the President will not be giving his proposed budget to the Congress until next week.


2004 Accomplishments

NRCS and its conservation partners had many accomplishments in FY 2004, assisting livestock operators other agricultural producers:

In addition to our traditional conservation technical assistance, we
• Applied conservation system plans on more than 27 million acres of crop and grazing lands,
• Developed and applied nearly 10,000 comprehensive nutrient management plans (up from just over 8,000 in 2003). This work is why Secretary Johanns talked about an increase for this effort,
• Signed more than 3,000 WHIP contracts, and
• Created and restored 228,000 acres of wetlands and associated uplands acreage. We also approved the first two Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program projects – one in Nebraska and one in Minnesota. This work will help us reach the President’s wetlands goal of restoring or creating 3 million acres of wetlands.

We also helped protect more than 550 ranches and farms through the FRPP program. And we helped fund more than 1,700 watershed protection and flood prevention projects.

Of course, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is our single largest conservation program for working lands and the one that meets the needs of many livestock operators. Last year, we signed nearly 48,000 EQIP contracts. About 67 percent of our EQIP money went to livestock operations, which was about the same as last in 2003.


EQIP On Federal Lands

Last year, we started a pilot in Arizona to put EQIP to work on the Federal Lands associated with private grazing operations. The pilot is a cooperative venture between the Arizona Cattlegrowers, the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts, and the Arizona Section of the Society for Range Management. Under the pilot, we are working with State and Federal agencies to address monitoring and environmental compliance issues related to livestock grazing on operations in Arizona involving private, State, and Federal lands. This pilot project allows EQIP cost share funds to be used on any part of a ranching operation being managed under a Coordinated Resource Management plan.

I want to thank the Gila County Cattle Growers and the Arizona State Technical Committee for their work in getting this pilot going. Mike Sommerville, who just retired as State Conservationist in Arizona, was very supportive of this pilot, and I am sure that the new State Conservationist, David McKay, will be equally supportive.

This year, we are continuing the Arizona pilot and starting a new one in New Mexico. Rosendo Trevino, our State Conservationist in New Mexico, is leading that effort.

Greater Sage Grouse

One of the great environmental success stories last year was the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the greater sage grouse does not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. The conservation activities of landowners have played an important role in sustaining the populations of the greater sage grouse in eleven western states. NRCS allocated $2.4 million for greater sage grouse conservation in fiscal year 2004 and expects to exceed that amount in fiscal year 2005.

This is a great example of how private landowners can work with the Federal government and other partners to improve habitat and thus make listing unnecessary.

Conservation Security Program

I would like to talk for just a minute about the Conservation security Program and what it has meant to livestock producers. We started CSP last year in 18 watersheds in 22 states around the country. More than 10 percent of the CSP contracts last year involved grazing practices or enhancements. These contracts were at all three tiers of the program and in 15 of the 18 watersheds.

More than a third of the dollars devoted to contracts with grazing practices or enhancements were in the Umatilla watershed in Oregon. Other leading watersheds were the Punta de Agua in Texas and New Mexico and the Lower Little Blue watershed in Kansas and Nebraska.

CSP provided cost-share payments for the kinds of enhancements many grazing operators are eager to undertake to improve their operations.

This year, we are offering CSP in 202 watersheds around the country. Funding for CSP has grown from $41 million last year to about $200 million this year. So there will be many more opportunities for grazing operations to participate. Eventually, grazing operators in every watershed in the nation will have an opportunity.

Grassland Reserve Program

I am happy to be able to report that the Grassland Reserve Program is up and running. We have been working hard with the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service to make this program a success. USDA published the interim final rule for GRP in 2004, and we hope to publish the final rule next month.

Last month, we completed the first conservation easement to help maintain a perennial stand of mixed grasses in Sumter County, SC. The landowner is operating under a grassland resources conservation plan that includes common grazing practices, such as rotational grazing and cross fencing.

In fiscal year 2004, 1,055 ranching operations enrolled 283,000 acres into GRP, bringing the total nationwide enrollment to 1,849 participants from all 50 States. The interest for participating in GRP is huge – there is a current “backlog” of more than 10 thousand unfunded applications. In fiscal year 2005, approximately 67 million in financial assistance will be available for additional enrollment.

Based on the comments we received on the interim final rule, we have revised the GRP conservation easement deed to provide for additional flexibilities for landowners to conduct common ranching operation activities and grazing practices. Examples include installation of underground utilities and exploration of subsurface gas and oil, when such activities are only temporary in nature and conducted in a manner consistent with protecting critical habitat and other unique grassland attributes.

Conservation Innovation Grants

Conservation Innovative Grants are stimulating the development and adoption of a variety of innovative conservation approaches in the cattle industry. These grants are part of EQIP. Last year, I mentioned a project being conducted by the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association to design, install and evaluate the environmental performance and cost effectiveness of non-basin technologies for the treatment of open feedlot runoff, and encourage their adoption. This project includes a Conservation Innovation Grant of $415,000.

We have several other pilots in progress around the country. A company in Kansas is demonstrating a new method for testing the structural integrity of livestock waste lagoons. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is demonstrating a model-based system for Marketing Carbon Sequestration Credits from Reduced Grazing and Soil Conservation. A faith based organization in Alabama is creating local demonstration farms that will provide limited resource farmers with training and technical assistance in management-intensive grazing practices. Utah State University is developing and demonstrating an economically-viable way to treat manure on a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, in order to reduce odor, kill pathogens, avoid soil or water pollution, and produce energy by using innovative anaerobic induced blanket reactor technology. An individual producer in Vermont is conducting an energy project to develop cost-effective manure management options for animal agriculture operations.

Competition for Conservation Innovation Grants is stiff; so we have been able to fund only highly innovative projects. This year, we will be awarding up to $15 million in Conservation Innovation Grants. Proposals are due by March 28.

Conservation Partnership Initiative

Our Conservation Technical Assistance Program includes a grant program called the Conservation Partnership Initiative. CPI provides financial resources to help recipients address conservation priorities in watersheds and airsheds of special significance. These grants are available to State and local governments and agencies, Indian tribes, and non-governmental organizations that have a history of working with agricultural producers to foster conservation partnerships.

Last year, one of these grants went to the New England Small Farm Institute to create partnerships to meet the conservation challenges of grass-based livestock farming, with a focus on the needs and concerns of new farmers and start-up enterprises. This year we will have about $1 million for CPI grants through a competitive process. The deadline for proposals is February 17.


Environmental Regulations

I know you are also interested in changes in the regulatory environment. Jon Scholl of the Environmental Protection Agency spoke to you earlier, so I will just say a few words about what USDA is doing under the 2002 farm bill to help producers comply with new regulations and possible upcoming regulatory changes that affect the cattle industry.

USDA believes that environmental regulation should take into account both agricultural production and natural resource conservation.

Air Quality Task Force

I mentioned earlier that NCBA has been active in the Agricultural Air Quality Task Force. The Task force charter has been renewed for another two years, and we had our first meeting a couple of weeks ago in Washington, DC.

The role of the task force is to advise the Secretary on issues related to agricultural air quality, including strengthening and coordinating USDA air quality research efforts and identifying cost-effective ways in which the agriculture industry can improve air quality.

A number of the members on the new Task Force are very familiar with the air quality aspects of the cattle industry, including Rita Sharma, a cattle rancher from Indiana and National Cattleman’s Beef Association member.

During the public comment period at last months meeting, Tamara Theis, representing the NCBA, presented arguments concerning EPA’s proposed coarse particle standard. Similar comments were presented at the AAQTF meeting in Coeur D’Alene, ID, in July 2004.

CAFO Issues

USDA worked with EPA on the Guidance Manual for CAFO Permit Writers and on the Compliance Guide for Producers, which were published late last year. Input from NRCS helped ensure that these guides reflect the important role that USDA science-based approaches can play in developing realistic regulatory requirements.

Five States have used this guidance to develop their own draft General Permits for CAFOs. Many States are working on regulatory or statutory revisions; so cattle producers should watch for opportunities to participate in this process.

The Value of CNMPs

EQIP can reduce the burden on producers by streamlining conservation planning, both to achieve environmental goals and to meet regulatory requirements. A good example of this is the emphasis on Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans. Once a producer develops a CNMP under EQIP to help better manage a waste handling facility, that same CNMP can be used to meet the permit requirements under the revised CAFO rule.

This is a good example of how federal agencies are now working together to coordinate agricultural and environmental policies.


Conclusion

I want to leave some time for questions, so let me just say that these are exciting times for conservation. The 2002 farm bill provides an unprecedented level of investment in conservation on America’s agricultural lands.

Our accomplishments in conservation during the coming year will play an important part in determining how Congress views private lands conservation in writing the next farm bill. All of us who are interested in conservation need to do what we can to put the farm bill investment to work in the coming year.

That is the key to sustaining this Golden Age of Conservation into the next farm bill.