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Latest conservation overhaul bill
Story Date: 3/23/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/22/18
Text of StorySens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) will introduce today legislation to revamp a conservation program under USDA - the Environmental Quality Incentive Program - that rewards farmers for engaging in sustainable practices. Under EQIP, farmers receive funding for doing things intended to benefit the environment, like using covering crops, installing buffers and practicing nutrient management.
But EQIP, as it operates now, doesn't provide enough money to projects that best protect water, air and soil health, according to the lawmakers.
What the bill would do: The lawmakers say their bill would prioritize federal assistance for the most useful practices and reduce cost-sharing for projects that have little to no environmental benefit.
In an effort to get more farmers enrolled in the program by freeing up money, the bill would cut the overall five-year payment cap from $450,000 to $150,000. It also would end the requirement that 60 percent of funds flow to livestock operators. Instead, the money would go to a variety of farmers.
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