Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 2/14/11

The Obama administration’s fiscal 2012 budget proposals included a decrease in USDA discretionary spending of about $3.2 billion to $23.9 billion as compared to actual 2010 spending, with savings created in part by reducing direct payments to high-income farmers, refocusing USDA’s homeownership programs, and targeting USDA conservation programs.

The fiscal 2012 proposals are about $2 billion below the fiscal 2011 requests. The fiscal 2011 budget has yet to be approved.

In a summary document, the administration said its priorities for USDA include investing in renewable energy and key research areas. Overall research funding, however, would decline to $2.374 billion from $2.846 billion spent in 2010.

Budget documents highlighted the following:
• Invests $6.5 billion in renewable and clean energy to spur the creation of high-value jobs, make America more energy independent, and drive global competitiveness in the sector.

• Increases funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative to $325 million and targets increases for research in areas including: human nutrition and obesity reduction, food safety, sustainable bioenergy, global food security, and climate change.

• Refocuses rural housing assistance to programs that work better, providing 170,000 new homeownership opportunities, of which at least 30,000 are expected to go to low -income rural borrowers.

• Maximizes efficiency and effectiveness of forest restoration efforts to improve forest health and resiliency by combining and streamlining multiple programs.

• Funds for the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to restore and protect 271,158 acres of wetlands and provide over $1.4 billion for conservation assistance.

• Provides $7.4 billion to support supplemental nutrition assistance available to low-income and nutritionally at-risk pregnant and post-partum women, infants and children up to age 5.

• Provides $35 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved communities.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that increasing exports is critical to growing the U.S. economy, noting every $1 billion in increased exports supports 8,000 American jobs. "To support President Obama’s National Export Initiative, we will provide an additional $20 million to help expand agricultural trade," he pledged.

Further 2012 budget proposal details can be viewed here.
 

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