Rethinking the “Safety Net”:  A New Approach to Agricultural Policy

U.S. agricultural policy is at a crossroads.  Extremely low commodity prices, drought and flood disasters, and persistent crop diseases threaten the livelihoods of thousands of American farmers.  Bold action is urgently needed.   

Historically, government programs have provided farmers an income safety net by compensating them for the commodities they produce or don’t produce.  Such policies face resistance in an era of free markets, oversupply, and constrained federal resources.  They also risk undermining America’s case for reducing agricultural subsidies by our European trading partners.  This situation presents the policy challenge of how to increase farmers’ income and not oversupply, within the context of political and fiscal realities. 

One way is to encourage farmers to act as responsible stewards of the land.  While agricultural commodities are in surplus, the farmers’ essential services of land stewardship are in deficit.  The marketplace does not properly recognize and reward farmers for sound management of agricultural land, yet such services are in great demand by the public and necessary to sustaining the future prosperity and livability of many of our nation’s communities. 

The Farmland Stewardship Initiative (FSI) will encourage farmers to practice land management that provides multiple public benefits.  In so doing, the Initiative will diversify farm income by creating a market for stewardship services on private lands. 

Conservation Agriculture:  Farm the Best, Restore the Rest

FSI will foster an efficient, stewardship-oriented approach to agriculture that enhances our quality of life. 

In FSI project areas, interdisciplinary teams of soil scientists, agronomists, economists and conservationists will work with farmers to:

•         maximize the productive use of prime farmland to generate the greatest return on investment;

•         identify marginal lands where the producer may be losing money simply by tilling the soil; and,

•         tailor an appropriate mix of conservation and restoration options to qualify for alternative payments.

Managing the Landscape to Make Communities More Livable

A conservation agriculture approach maximizes income for farmers while enhancing livability by:

•         creating disincentives to sprawl by helping farmers remain productive and protecting farmland through conservation easements and other tools;

•         increasing outdoor recreational opportunities by converting marginal farmlands into open space;

•         reducing the risk of flooding and other disasters and improving water quality by restoring wetlands, woodlands, floodplains, and riparian and other areas to store, retain and slow runoff; and

•         reducing climate change by encouraging farm conservation and land management practices that enhance the ability of soils and natural ecosystems to absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Super-Optimization:  Simple, Flexible Measures Generate Multiple Benefits

A broadly conceived and flexible policy of compensating farmers for retaining and slowing water and restoring natural ecological function to agriculturally marginal lands can generate a host of positive and mutually reinforcing outcomes.  Interrelated benefits to agriculture, rural quality of life, flood mitigation, the environment, and recreation and tourism could be optimized through a single compensation program.

Agricultural Benefits

•         Provide financial incentives to farmers for comprehensive stewardship services;

•         Diversify, stabilize and increase farm income by allowing producers to concentrate production on prime agricultural soils, while receiving payments for retiring and restoring unprofitable land;

•         Create opportunities for expanded irrigation and high-value crop production in conjunction with water retention and storage for flood mitigation;

Disaster Mitigation Benefits

•         Support measures that store, reduce or slow run-off that causes flooding, and that reduce the risk of mudslides, fire and drought;

•         Reduce repetitive damage to crops, and the associated recurring federal costs, through retirement of marginal, flood-prone land;

•         Decrease potential flood damages to urban areas by reducing peak flood events downstream;

•         Reduce the amount of developed land, thus increasing absorption, and reducing runoff and flooding

Environmental Benefits

•         Conserve natural ecosystems such as wetlands, woodlands, grasslands, and riparian areas;

•         Reduce sprawl and hazard-prone development;

•         Improve water quality by reducing and slowing runoff and filtering nonpoint source pollution;

•         Provide incentives for habitat development that supports endangered species recovery;

•         Increase the natural absorption of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases through conservation tillage and restoration of woodlands, grasslands, wetlands and riparian areas;

Tourism and Recreation Benefits

•         Develop greenways and riparian corridors with for hiking, bicycling, canoeing, birdwatching, etc.;

•         Enhance hunting and fishing habitat and local commercial income from those activities; and

•         Provide camping, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and other income-generating services.

Reinventing Farm Programs:  
A One-Stop, Multi-Purpose Compensation Tool

Presently, farmers must negotiate many different federal programs administered for conservation, water quality, and other stewardship purposes.   While individual programs can provide great benefit to a farmer, negotiating the different agencies, regulations, criteria and payments can be difficult.  This complexity creates a disincentive for participation and reduces interagency collaboration for the benefit of the farmer/customer. 

A single, more flexible compensation system will encourage partnering among federal agencies and support a broad menu of options for a given farm operation or multiple farm operations within a region or watershed.  Farmers will have the benefit of meeting a common set of criteria and regulations, preparing a single conservation plan and receiving a single payment.