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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release Novemeber 15, 2007 |
CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630 |
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| Senator
Salazar Continues to Fight for Farm Bill Passage
Highlights Farm Bill Land and Water Conservation Programs
in Floor Speech
WASHINGTON, DC - As debate on the 2007 Farm Bill continues into its tenth day, United States Senator Ken Salazar spoke on the floor of the United States Senate today to reiterate how important passing the Farm Bill is to our Nation’s farmers and ranchers and their ability to produce healthy, safe food; clean, renewable energy; help fight hunger; and provide vitality to rural communities. In particular, Senator Salazar today emphasized that this year’s Farm Bill is the "strongest conservation farm bill in history" providing billions of dollars for the responsible conservation of our Nation’s land and water through important programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. He also continued to urge his colleagues to move forward on passing this important piece of legislation. Below is Senator Salazar’s statement as prepared for delivery. For audio of his entire speech, click here. “Mr. President, I rise today to again voice my strong support for the 2007 Farm Bill. Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Chambliss, along with Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley on the Finance Committee, have shown strong leadership in bringing this bipartisan, forward-thinking, and balanced package to the floor. “I have spoken several times in the last week about the importance of passing the Farm Bill – it is vital to producing healthy, safe food; it is vital to providing clean, renewable energy; it is vital to fighting hunger; it is vital to our rural communities; and it is vital to our farmers and ranchers. This afternoon, though, I want to talk about the value of the Farm Bill to our land and water. This is the strongest conservation Farm Bill in history – it builds on the 2002 Farm Bill by investing an additional $4.4 billion in conservation programs. It will deliver clean water, clean air, wildlife habitat, open space, and healthy ecosystems. “You can’t find a price for these commodities on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange like you can for wheat, corn, or soy – but we all consume air, water, and open space, and we all benefit from them. It makes sense that the Farm Bill should provide some incentive for farmers and ranchers to deliver these public goods, along with all the other products they grow. Conservation in the Farm Bill “Mr. President, the Farm Bill has an enormous impact on this Nation’s land and water. Non-federal agricultural and forest lands occupy 1.4 billion acres – or nearly 70% of lands in the lower 48 states. Seven out of ten acres in the contiguous United States are affected by the Farm Bill. “These lands provide the habitat and corridors that support healthy wildlife populations, filter groundwater supplies, regulate surface water flows, sequester carbon, and provide the open space and vistas that we all love. As I learned growing up on our ranch in southern Colorado, farmers and ranchers are some our best stewards of these resources. They want to take care of their land, and do what is right for the protection of our environment. “The conservation programs that this Farm Bill reauthorizes are already helping solve some of the major land stewardship problems of the last half century. In 1982, widespread soil erosion was degrading water quality in rivers and streams and putting dust in the air at dangerously high levels. But since 1982, with the CRP program, the EQIP program, and their predecessor programs, total erosion on U.S. cropland has fallen more than 43%. The investments we make in the CRP program, which puts environmentally sensitive cropland into conservation uses, result in:
“Here is a picture that the Natural Resources Conservation Service sent out from Colorado that shows how some of these conservation dollars are spent. Thanks to Allan Green, our state conservationist, and Tim Carney, our assistant state conservationist, for sending these pictures out. And thanks to all the dedicated NRCS field staff who dedicate their hearts and souls to this work. This is a picture of some of our farmers from the Saint Vrain and Boulder Creek watersheds learning some new practices that reduce tillage and increase yields. “The field day was part of a 3-year EQIP Conservation Innovation Grant that was done in partnership with the local conservation district, local farmers, seed companies, and farm equipment dealers. At the end of the day, these farmers went home with new ways to boost their bottom line while reducing erosion. “The conservation programs that we are reauthorizing in the Farm Bill also help us protect wetlands, which are so important for water quality and for the habitat that supports fish and waterfowl. Starting in the mid-1950’s, we were losing over half a million acres of wetlands every year. That is equivalent to losing an area of wetlands the size of Washington DC every month. Thanks in large part to the Wetland Reserve Program and the Conservation Reserve Program, though, we have achieved the goal of having ‘no net loss’ of wetlands from agriculture. In fact, from 1997 to 2003, we had a net gain of 260,000 wetland acres. “This is a picture of a Wetland Reserve Program project near Berthoud, along the Front Range, north of Denver. WRP funded 70% of the $12,000 it took to restore this wetland. You can see what great waterfowl habitat and nesting areas it created along the shorelines. At the end of 2005, nationwide we had 1.8 million acres enrolled in the WRP program, and we had about 2 million acres of wetlands and buffer areas enrolled through CRP. This is great for birdwatchers, anglers, and hunters. CRP alone yields around $737 million in wildlife-related benefits each year. “The conservation programs in the Farm Bill also help ensure that we have healthy ranges and that animal waste does not harm water quality. Here is great example of an EQIP project along Pawnee Creek near the Colorado-Wyoming border. EQIP provided about $3,000 – around 50% of the project cost – to install this water tank for livestock. The tank is part of a grazing system with a stock well, a pipeline system, and cross fencing that facilitates rotational grazing. A small investment from EQIP results in more balanced grazing, less erosion, improved water quality, and improved wildlife habitat. “For us in the West water is like gold, and you can’t afford to waste a drop. Here is an EQIP-funded project near Mead in Northern Colorado. EQIP provided around half of the $7 per foot cost of installing this new concrete-lined irrigation field ditch. The farmer sees the benefit of the ditch through more uniform irrigation water application, reduced labor costs, and reduced water seepage loss. Again, it’s a small investment with big returns, both for the farmer and for the public. “Mr. President, I could talk all afternoon about the benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program, the Grassland Reserve Program, and many other programs that we are reauthorizing in the Farm Bill. “You see the benefits of these programs throughout my state, from my native San Luis Valley in the south to the Yampa River valley in the north. They have made an immeasurable difference over the last two decades. I am proud that this Farm Bill reauthorizes theses programs and invests $4.4 billion dollars in conservation. The growing pressures on agricultural lands make it all the more important that we pass a Farm Bill with a strong conservation title. “I want to again applaud Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Chambliss for their leadership and for making this the strongest conservation Farm Bill in our history. I hope we will soon find a way to get beyond the roadblocks that some members are placing before this legislation. We need to pass this bill.” ###
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