ACTION ALERT: Preserve Funding for
Beginning Farmer, Conservation & Organics

Congress May Cut Funding in Next 2 Weeks

1/7/09
Right now congressional leaders are finalizing plans for two critical pieces of legislation:

Both are expected to be voted on in early January and put before President-elect Barack Obama for his signature shortly after his inauguration on January 20.

Timing is key: The Economic Stimulus Bill needs to happen before FY 2009 appropriations.

It is critical that the Economic Stimulus Bill includes emergency funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) feeding program and is also passed before the FY 09 appropriation bill.  Hunger is on the rise and needs to be addressed. In addition, if the Stimulus Bill is not passed, then it is likely hundreds of millions of dollars will be taken out of the main FY 09 appropriations bill, slashing important programs — Organic Research and Extension Initiative, Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, and a number of farm conservation programs, for example — to pay for only part of the over $1 billion WIC funding shortfall. These sustainable agriculture programs were hard fought wins in the 2008 Farm Bill. Cutting them now would undermine our ability to take further steps towards a sustainable food and agriculture system.

Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) chairs the Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee and has tremendous influence over which programs are cut and which ones are protected. So far it’s the Senate that has been leading the charge to cut mandatory Farm Bill programs to fund the cash- strapped WIC program. Yet, cutting sustainable long-term initiatives to pay for pressing shortfalls in other programs is not a solution, especially since Congress is expected to pass an economic stimulus package worth several hundred billion dollars.

Contact Sen. Kohl’s office at 202-224-5653

The message is simple: I am calling to urge Sen. Kohl to be the Senate champion for emergency funding in the economic stimulus package for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Cutting mandatory Farm Bill funding for beginning farmer, organics and other programs to make up for the WIC shortfall is not acceptable. Make up the WIC shortfall in the Economic Stimulus Bill.

When you call, ask for Sen. Kohl’s aide, Phil Karsting.  If he is unavailable, please leave your name, phone number, where you are from and a message on the voice mail, or, if necessary, with the reception desk. Thank you for taking the time to make this quick call! 

Background

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): An economic recession, rising unemployment, and food price inflation have rapidly driven up participation rates and costs for WIC — the major nutrition program for low-income children, pregnant women and recent mothers. Major emergency funding on the order of $1 billion is needed immediately or eligible participants will be turned away. An economic stimulus package is the last best chance to provide the increases necessary to fully fund the program for fiscal year 2009 at projected participation levels.

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP): BFRDP was reauthorized in the 2008 Farm Bill and for the first time ever received mandatory funding — $18 million, $19 million, $19 million and $19 million for fiscal years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. The central component of a larger beginning farmer package, BFRDP is a substantial investment that provides support to community-based organizations and other institutions that provide beginning farmer and rancher education, training and assistance. USDA is already moving forward with implementation and ensuring coordination with other federal beginning farmer programs. BFRDP is a common-sense initiative with the flexibility to support a number of different approaches and strategies to help new farmers and ranchers get started. Community-based organizations and networks can use BFRDP to address barriers new agricultural producers face that might be specific to a region or topic area. Matching federal resources with community-based organizations and networks is a good approach that can produce results. Right now, the pending Senate FY 09 appropriations bill authored by Sen. Kohl proposes to cut Farm Bill funding for BFRDP by $2 million to $16 million to help pay for WIC cost increases.

Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI): OREI is USDA’s flagship competitive grants program focusing specifically on organic research. The program offers competitive research grants on determining desirable traits for organic commodities; identifying marketing and policy constraints on the expansion of organic agriculture; conducting advanced research on organic farms, including production, marketing and socioeconomic research; and other research important to the organic sector. The 2008 Farm Bill dramatically increased OREI’s funding from $3 million a year to $18 million annually in FY 09 and $20 million in FY 10 and subsequent years. The pending Senate FY 09 appropriations bill, however, proposes to cut Farm Bill funding for OREI by $2 million to $16 million to help pay for WIC cost increases.

Farm Bill Conservation Programs: The 2008 Farm Bill increased mandatory spending for some Farm Bill conservation programs and continued level funding for others. The pending Senate FY09 appropriations bill proposes to cut mandatory spending for Farm Bill conservation programs by $336 million to help pay for WIC cost increases. Thankfully, the pending Senate bill keeps the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) whole, but does propose to scale back funding for the Farmland Protection Program, Grasslands Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Agricultural Management Assistance Program. 

Note: The organic, beginning farmer and conservation summaries above refer only to the FY 09 appropriations Senate bill.  The companion House bill is pending and has not been made public; we cannot say with certainty what is in the House bill, although indications are that threats to mandatory farm spending are much less than the Senate’s version. Congressional staffs from both the House and Senate are conferencing the two bills. The final product will be voted on by all members of the House and Senate in January and then sent to the President. In total, the pending Senate bill would cut Farm Bill mandatory spending by about $500 million in a desperate attempt to make up half of the shortfall for WIC. Those cuts would be unnecessary if the stimulus bill provides the emergency spending needed to make WIC whole.

If you have additional questions, contact the Land Stewardship Project at 612-722-6377.