WASHINGTON -- An agriculture-focused organization has recruited Arkansas farmers and ranchers to join a campaign urging federal lawmakers to protect conservation funding included in President Joe Biden's signature climate and health care law.
Invest in Our Land is showcasing producers from Arkansas and nine other states amid ongoing discussions regarding the next farm bill, in which lawmakers have discussed ways to address billions of dollars for conservation programs. Federal agencies argue farmers and ranchers can use this spending to implement better conservation practices with a lower impact on climate change.
The congressional agricultural committees have held multiple hearings and listening sessions regarding the next farm bill, a legislative package addressing nutrition, rural development and agriculture programs. Federal lawmakers typically consider new farm bills on a five-year cycle.
Congress was supposed to approve new legislation last year, but committee leaders -- including Arkansas Sen. John Boozman of Rogers, the top Republican on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee -- agreed to extend the 2018 farm bill through Sept. 30 amid ongoing conversations on the measure's titles.
Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., serves on the House Agriculture Committee. The Jonesboro congressman and Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., recently submitted a final report detailing policy recommendations addressing agricultural labor issues and the federal H-2A visa program for hiring foreign workers.
One sticking point in reaching a final deal has involved conservation funding. The Inflation Reduction Act set aside $18 billion for "climate-smart agriculture" programs within the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. The overall program offers assistance and resources directed at helping farmers and ranchers implement practices for protecting resources and reducing their environmental impact.
Jared and Lindi Phillips have utilized this funding for their sheep operation, Branch Mountain Farm, in Washington County. Speaking to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Jared Phillips explained accessing quality land and managing sufficient infrastructure are challenges in overseeing livestock ranches.
"It requires a lot of capital investment. It requires a lot of labor investment," he said. "That presents a bunch of different challenges for us."
The Phillipses sought Natural Resources Conservation Service dollars to embrace practices to become a grass-fed operation, resulting in lower feed costs. Branch Mountain Farm additionally raises hay and other feed crops for its sheep.
"NRCS funding is really one of the things that allowed us to get over the hump to purchase some of the equipment that we needed," Jared Phillips said.
Invest in Our Land selected Jared and Lindi Phillips for its campaign. Two Arkansas farmers -- PJ Haynie III, a Jefferson County rice farmer, and Brandon Cain, a White County farmer focused on cultivating corn and soybeans -- also lent their voices to the advertising effort.
"The problem we have is irrigation and water," Cain told the Democrat-Gazette. "Our aquifer underneath the ground there is not really conducive to letting go of the water so we can pump it out of the ground."
Cain sought federal conservation funding to build a reservoir and tailwater recovery system, which would give his operation the tools to recirculate water for production needs and simultaneously reduce irrigation costs.
"I've got four submersible wells in the ground, and I'm having to run those wells almost nonstop just to get enough water to irrigate this 320-acre block of ground," he said.
"With this system they're going to put in, I'm only going to be running one pump instead of four, and I should be able to irrigate everything in at least half the time of what it was taking me without it."
Congress approves funding for the Department of Agriculture's conservation programs by reauthorizing the farm bill. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, federal lawmakers set aside an additional $18 billion for the programs through September 2026 with the condition that the Department of Agriculture keep the funds available through fiscal year 2031.
Jonathan Coppess, an associate professor of agricultural policy and law at the University of Illinois, has compiled multiple reports exploring conservation program spending through the Inflation Reduction Act. Based on his research, Arkansas is projected to get the third-largest pot of conservation funding among states, with an estimated $723.7 million going to the state.
Iowa and Texas are positioned to get the most funding.
"The biggest issue with conservation funding in the farm bill is, Congress does not provide enough funding for what farmers are demanding in those programs," Coppess said. "One way to think of this IRA funding is it's a booster investment that's trying to get more of that conservation on the ground and meet the farmer demand."
Coppess is not part of Invest in Our Land's campaign.
According to a Feb. 29 Congressional Research Service analysis, the next farm bill will involve $1.4 trillion in spending for relevant programs through September 2034, with conservation funding accounting for about 4.1% of the baseline.
Jared Phillips contended lawmakers should consider ways to make the Inflation Reduction Act funding permanent during their negotiations on the next farm bill.
"This can make or break farms in Arkansas," he said. "If they have funding to implement climate-smart and cost-effective practices on their farm that will positively increase their bottom line, I don't understand why our delegation isn't willing to say, 'This makes good sense.'"
Invest in Our Land's campaign additionally involves highlighting producers from Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Congressional Democrats have pushed back against suggestions to change this funding and nutrition programs, the latter of which are estimated to make up 82% of the next farm bill's baseline. House Agriculture Committee Democrats noted in a release outlining their principles for the next agricultural package that members "will not support a farm bill that takes IRA conservation funding away from its intended purpose."
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has stated she would prefer continuing the policies of the 2018 farm bill to avoid limits on nutrition and climate-related funding. Stabenow will retire from Congress when her term concludes in January.
Boozman's committee staff issued a report Wednesday detailing a proposal related to this Inflation Reduction Act money. Warning of a "conservation cliff" because of the sweeping law's 2031 deadline for using the funds, they suggest moving this spending into the farm bill reauthorization effort, which would possibly provide additional funding to all conservation programs through September 2050.
The report notes Congress has the budget authority to move this money to "create new and permanent funding streams for all conservation activities," including natural resource protection and wildlife habitat management efforts.
"Moving IRA funds into the farm bill could represent a historic bipartisan investment to help farmers, ranchers, foresters, conservationists, and other stakeholders meet their local conservation needs," the report states. "Any discussion about 'protecting IRA resources' that does not begin with prioritizing additional baseline for the conservation title risks missing out on this investment."
Boozman and Republican colleagues on the committee are working on a framework explaining their priorities for the next farm bill. The senators hope to release the legislative vision in April.