THE FARMLAND STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
Sec. 256
in the House-passed Farm Bill, HR 2646,
and in S. 1673 in the U.S. Senate

Definition: The Farmland Stewardship Program is a "blending tool" that uses a "service contract" to combine together one or more different conservation or regulatory programs into a single agreement with a single application. The agreement tailors these programs to the specific needs, opportunities and challenges offered by individual parcels of land, and removes administrative and regulatory obstacles that previously may have limited the use of these programs on eligible agricultural lands. The Farmland Stewardship Program can be used as a "stand-alone" program to provide incentive payments to producers to implement conservation practices on private lands, or it can be used to complement and work together with any other program or programs, including local and private programs. When existing programs do not address a particular need on a specific property, the Farmland Stewardship Program can be used to "fill in the gaps."

Service contract: The term "service contract" means "a legally binding agreement between two parties, whereby one party agrees to perform one or more services, according to criteria spelled out in the contract, and the other party agrees to pay the first party for the service(s) rendered."

A Farmland Stewardship Agreement will operate in all respects as a service contract and, as such, will provide the Secretary and the "contracting agencies" working on behalf of the Secretary with the opportunity to contract with an owner or operator of eligible land to perform one or more specific services for a fee based on market rates for each service rendered. Any agency participating in the Farmland Stewardship Program that has the authority to enter into contracts and to expend public funds under such contracts may enter into or participate in the funding of an agreement.

Contracting agencies/partnership approach to program. The Secretary may authorize a local conservation district, resource conservation and development council, extension service office, state-chartered stewardship entity, nonprofit organization, local office of the Department of Agriculture, or other participating governmental or nongovernmental agency to enter into and administer agreements under the Program as a contracting agency on behalf of the Secretary.

Eligible lands are in primarily native or natural condition or are classified as cropland, pastureland, grazing lands, timberlands, or other lands as specified by the Secretary that—

a.  conservation of soil, water, and related resources;

b.  conservation of soil, water, and related resources;

c.  water quality protection or improvement;

d.  control of invasive and exotic species;

e.  wetland restoration, protection, and creation;

f.  wildlife habitat development and protection;

g.  survival and recovery of listed species or candidate species;

h.  preservation of open spaces, or prime, unique, or other productive farm lands;

i.  increased participation in federal agricultural or forestry programs in an area or region that has traditional under-representation in such programs;

j.  provision of a structure for interstate cooperation to address environmental issues that overlap state boundaries;

k.  improvements in the environment of the area, region or corridor;

Funding from new programs being created within Interior, Commerce and Energy can be used for:

l.  carbon sequestering;

m.  phytoremediation (using green living plant materials to remove contaminants from water and soil; these plants can, in turn, be harvested and used to produce biofuels and other bioproducts);

n.  improvements in the economic viability of agriculture;

o.  production of biofuels and bioproducts;

p.  establishment of experimental or innovative crops;

q.  use of existing crops or crop byproducts in experimental or innovative ways;

r.  equipment to produce materials that can be used for biofuels or other bioproducts;

s.  maintenance of experimental or innovative crops until such time that a viable market is created for these crops, or until the conclusion of the agreement, whichever occurs first; and

t.  other similar conservation purposes as designated by the Secretary.

Programs included: Under the Farmland Stewardship Program, the Secretary may implement, or combine together, the features of:

1.  any conservation program administered by the Secretary; and

Funding: The Farmland Stewardship Program and agreements under the Program will be funded by using the funding authorities of the conservation programs that are implemented in whole or in part through the use of Farmland Stewardship Agreements and through such other funds as are appropriated to carry out the Farmland Stewardship Program.

Cost sharing: It shall be a requirement of the Farmland Stewardship Program that the majority of the funds to carry out the Program must come from existing conservation programs, which may be Federal, State, regional, local, or private, that are combined into and made a part of an agreement, with the balance made up from funding contributions made by State, regional, or local agencies and divisions of government or from private funding sources. Funds from existing programs may be used only to carry out the purposes and intents of those programs to the degree that those programs are made a part of a Farmland Stewardship Agreement. Funding for other purposes or intents must come from the funds appropriated to carry out the Farmland Stewardship Program or from the funding contributions made by State, regional, or local agencies and divisions of government or from private funding sources.

Federal oversight: The Secretary shall use the Natural Resources Conservation Service to carry out the Farmland Stewardship Program in cooperation with the state department of agriculture or other designated agency within the state. The role of the Natural Resources Conservation Services shall be limited to federal oversight of the program. The Natural Resources Conservation Service shall perform its normal functions with respect to the conservation programs that it administers. However, it shall play no role in the assembly of programs administered by other federal agencies into Farmland Stewardship Agreements.

State level coordination: The governor of each state shall determine which state agency shall have primary responsibility for cooperating with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to operate the Farmland Stewardship Program in the State.  The  agency designated by the governor may choose to operate the program on its own, or may collaborate with another local, State or Federal agency, conservation district or tribe in operating the program. The designated state agency shall consult with the agencies with management authority and responsibility for the resources affected on properties on which Farmland Stewardship Agreements are negotiated and assembled.

The state department of agriculture, or other agency selected by the governor, shall submit an application to the Secretary requesting designation as the "designated state agency" to operate the Farmland Stewardship Program. 

Technical assistance: Of the funds used from other programs and made available to carry out the Farmland Stewardship Program, the Secretary shall provide funding for local technical assistance, carried out through a designated "contracting agency" and subcontractors chosen by and working with the contracting agency for preparing and executing agreements and monitoring, evaluating and administering agreements for their full term.

Ensuring availability of funds: All amounts required for preparing, executing, carrying out, monitoring, evaluating and administering an agreement for its entire term shall be made available by the Federal, State, and local agencies and private sector entities involved in funding the agreement upon execution of the agreement.

Basic purposes: An agreement with the owner or operator of eligible agricultural lands shall be used:

Tailoring existing programs to accommodate local conditions & needs: If most, but not all, of the limitations, conditions, policies and requirements of a conservation program that is implemented in whole, or in part, through the Farmland Stewardship Program are met with respect to a parcel of eligible agricultural lands, and the purposes to be achieved by the agreement to be entered into for such lands are consistent with the purposes of the conservation program, then the Secretary may grant an exception to any remaining limitations, conditions, policies or requirements of the conservation program that would otherwise prohibit or limit the agreement. The Secretary may also grant requests to–

1.  establish different or automatic enrollment criteria than otherwise established by regulation or policy;

2.  establish different compensation rates to the extent the parties to the agreement consider justified;

3.  establish different conservation practice criteria if doing so will achieve greater conservation benefits;

4.  provide more streamlined and integrated paperwork requirements; 

5.  provide for the transfer of conservation program funds to States with accounts that have been expressly established to collect and consolidate payments from different programs so that a single annual payment can be made to an owner or operator; and  

6.  provide funds to monitor the effectiveness of the Program for wildlife, the protection of natural resources, economic effectiveness and sustaining the agricultural economy.

For an exception to be considered, a contracting agency or designated state agency must:

1.  Submit a request for an exception to the Secretary or Administrator who has responsibility for the program for which an exception is being requested. Requests for  exceptions in programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shall be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture, while requests for exceptions in programs administered by the U.S. Department of Interior shall be submitted to the Secretary of Interior and requests for exceptions in programs administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shall be submitted to the Administrator of that Agency, and so forth.

a.  explain why the property qualifies for participation in the program;

b.  explain why it is necessary or desirable to grant an exception to one or more program limitations, conditions, policies or requirements;

c.  if possible, suggest alternative methods or approaches to satisfying these limitations, conditions, policies or requirements that are appropriate for the property in question;

d.  request that the Secretary or Administrator grant the exception, based on the documentation submitted.

Short-term contracts. The Secretary may provide payments to private landowners or operators, and cover expenses incurred by the organization or contracting agency that will oversee an agreement, while baseline data is gathered, documents are prepared and the formal agreement is being negotiated. The Secretary may use a short-term service contract to pay for all technical services required to establish an agreement, and to compensate landowners for time and materials in providing baseline data, and for implementing an initial set of recommended practices, as recommended by the contracting agency.  These contracts may be used to establish a Farmland Stewardship Agreement, or any other type of conservation program, permit or agreement on private land. Such contracts may be used during a two-year planning period, which may be extended for up to two additional periods of six months each by mutual agreement between the Secretary, the contracting agency and the owner or operator.

Payments. Payments to owners and operators shall be made as provided in the programs that are combined as part of a Farmland Stewardship Agreement. At the election of the owner or operator, payments may be collected and combined together by the designated state agency and issued to the owner or operator in equal annual payments over the term of the agreement. Payments for other services rendered by the owner or operator shall be made as follows–

Programs that contain term or permanent easements may be combined into a Farmland Stewardship Agreement. Except for portions of a property affected by easements, Farmland Stewardship Agreements shall provide no interest in property and shall be solely contracts for specific services. The fees paid shall be based on the services provided. Compensation shall include–

ANNUAL BASE PAYMENT. All owners or operators enrolled in a Farmland Stewardship Agreement shall receive an annual base payment, at a rate to be determined by the Secretary. The annual base payment shall be considered by the Secretary to be satisfied if the owner or operator receives annual payments from another conservation program that has been incorporated into the Farmland Stewardship Agreement.

In addition, owners and operators shall receive–

DIRECT FEES FOR SERVICES. These fees shall be based on the cost of providing each service. These fees may be set by adopting private sector market prices for the performance of similar services or by competitive bidding. Or, alternatively–

ANNUAL PER-ACRE STEWARDSHIP FEES. These fees shall be based on the services provided, or the quantity of benefits provided, with higher fees for greater benefits that can be quantified. Such values shall be determined and set by the Secretary. Or, alternatively–

OTHER INCENTIVES. Other forms of compensation acceptable to an owner or operator also may be considered. These other forms of compensation may include federal, state or local tax waivers, credits, reductions or exclusions; priority processing of permits from state and local agencies; consolidation of permits from state and local agencies into a single operating plan; extended-duration permits from state and local agencies; enhanced eligibility and priority listing for participation in cost-share programs, loan programs, conservation programs and permanent conservation easement or public purchase programs; and priority access to technical assistance services provided by federal and, where possible, local, regional and state agencies.

State and local conservation priorities. To the maximum extent practicable, agreements shall address the conservation priorities established by the State and locality in which the eligible agricultural lands are located. The Secretary may adopt for this purpose a pre-existing state or regional conservation plan or strategy that maps economically and ecologically important lands.

Watershed enhancement. To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall encourage the development of Farmland Stewardship Program applications on a watershed basis.

Participating in the program. To participate in the Farmland Stewardship Program, an owner or operator of eligible agricultural lands shall—

1.  submit to the Secretary an application indicating interest in the Program and describing the owner’s or operator’s property, its resources, and their ecological and agricultural values;

2.  submit to the Secretary the purpose and objectives of the proposed agreement and a list of services to be provided, or a management plan to be implemented, or both, under the proposed agreement;

3.  if the application and list are accepted by the Secretary, enter into an agreement that details the purpose and objectives of the agreement and the services to be provided, or management plan to be implemented, or both, and requires compliance with the other terms of the agreement.

APPLICATION ON BEHALF OF AN OWNER OR OPERATOR. A designated contracting agency may submit an application on behalf of an owner or operator if the contracting agency has secured the consent of the owner or operator to enter into an agreement.

DELEGATION OF RESPONSIBILITY. The Secretary may delegate responsibility for reviewing and approving applications from or on behalf of an owner or operator to the state department of agriculture or other designated agency in the state in which the property is located, provided that the designated agency follows the criteria for reviewing and approving applications as established by the Secretary and consults with the agencies with management authority and responsibility for the resources affected on properties on which Farmland Stewardship Agreements are negotiated and assembled.

Creation of a Farmland Stewardship Council: The Farmland Stewardship Council will expand on an existing advisory body -- the State Technical Committees -- by creating a "national technical committee" to facilitate cooperation and communication between the existing State Technical Committee AND existing Resource Advisory Committee in each state. It will operate on the federal level in the same manner, with the same roles and responsibilities and the same membership requirements as provided in the policies and guidelines governing State Technical Committees.

The Council has very specific duties that will be key in ensuring that the Farmland Stewardship Program is as effective as possible, responds to place-based needs, and is carried out though an adaptive, open approach that allows the program to be improved and perfected and adapted to local needs through administrative means, in consultation with the Secretary.

The annual report will ensure accountability. The council will remain in force for as long as the Secretary administers the Farmland Stewardship Program, except that the council will terminate in 2011 unless renewed by Congress in the next Farm Bill.

Further information: