Conservation Program

Date: 7/07
Position Number: V-D-1
Expires: 3/08

Resolution/Position:

1. Cost-Share Programs. Urge USDA to fund conservation cost-share programs with local farmer-elected committee oversight.
2. Urge the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide technical and financial assistance and educational resource planning programs to agricultural producers to help them meet society's expectations for clean water, clean air and healthy land.
   1. Urge Congress and USDA to ensure that adequate technical assistance is available to agricultural producers to help them address conservation challenges.
   2. Urge Congress and USDA to look at a long-term view of budgeting for technical assistance that balances national priorities with local needs.
   3. Encourage USDA to explore the use of multi-year agreements when arranging Technical Service Providers (TSPs) to address year-to-year fluctuation of financial assistance.
3. Encourage NCGA state affiliates and individual growers to participate in state technical committees.
4. Support compensating producers who already utilize conservation practices in the event that a portion of future program payments are based on switching to such conservation practices.
5. Support matching federal funds to state and local governments for research and education to adapt conservation practices to a modern agriculture.
6. Conservation programs should be uniformly implemented.
7. Oppose the public use of private lands enrolled in conservation programs without owners permission.
8. Funds should be made available for agricultural uses from Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) on a cost-share basis for environmental conservation practices.
9. Support voluntary programs that create environmental incentive payments for implementation of
   conservation practices.
10. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) contracts should be administered as the contract was written with original intent maintained.
11. Support conservation cost-share work to be done after the 8th year of a 10-year CRP Contract without forfeiture of CRP payments.
12. Support using EQIP funds for livestock operation odor control mechanisms.
13. Support significant improvements to the application, selection and implementation process with regard to the Conservation Security Program (CSP) so that the program’s provisions are fairly applied to all eligible growers.
14. Conservation Compliance
    1. Urge conservation plans to incorporate sound acceptable cultural practices for the area and provide for the economic capability of the producer to implement the plan according to a defined timetable.
    2. Recommend that the USDA allocate the necessary resources to adequately and fairly implement the conservation compliance requirements of current and future farm acts, including continued research to update the universal soil loss equation.
    3. Penalties assessed to commodity program participants, under the conservation provisions of the Farm Bill, should only be the amount of the payments received on the tract found to be out of compliance.
15. Urges USDA to retain local farmer elected committee oversight of cost-share programs and the Conservation Security Program.
16. Support funding conservation incentives from sources other than the commodity title.