RL34060
Conservation and the 2007 Farm Bill
August 27, 2007

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National Agricultural Law Center

Summary:

Conservation is playing a prominent role in the development of a farm bill by the 110th Congress. Major conservation topics include determining the priorities for the conservation effort; deciding whether any existing programs or activities should be modified or eliminated; deciding whether new programs or activities should be added to the effort; and determining where to set the overall funding level for conservation, as well as levels for each program. Addressing these topics often pits supporters of commodity programs and the traditional structure of farm policy against those who seek an expanded conservation effort. The House completed action on its version of the farm bill (H.R. 2419) on July 27, 2007, passing it by a vote of 231 to 191. Many options for conservation had been offered as the legislation moved through the House, but the conservation title was passed as reported by the committee and modified by a chairman's mark without further amendment. In summary, this legislation would increase funding for many conservation programs and add a number of small new programs to the conservation portfolio, halt new enrollment into the Conservation Security Program, and eliminate little else from the current effort. The Senate Agriculture Committee continues to work on a "discussion draft" of a conservation title. Although conservation is but one of many titles in the pending farm bill, it has been becoming more central to farm policy in recent farm bills. Conservation has been receiving a growing portion of agricultural funding. Conservation proponents have offered many suggestions for (1) addressing new topics through expanded conservation programs; (2) providing additional funding to current conservation programs; and (3) creating new programs. Conservation is viewed by some as a potential alternative to commodity programs for delivering government support. Others caution that overall funding for agriculture could be limited in this farm bill, and with it, conservation funding. Many in this latter group would like to see limited funds spent on other farm bill topics or programs. In addition, some would like to limit the reach or the scope of the conservation effort, or question whether the conservation accomplishments reflect the scale of investment and effort. This report introduces some of the issues that are influencing the development of a conservation title. It then reviews the contents of the House-passed bill, H.R. 2419. Some alternative proposals that the House considered are summarized in an appendix. The House-passed bill includes some elements of the alternative proposals (usually in modified form). This report is limited to the conservation title. However, conservation topics in recent farm bills have been increasingly addressed in other titles, and that trend continues with the House-passed version, which contains conservation provisions in the energy, forestry, and research titles, and others as well. Those provisions may be discussed in other CRS reports about the titles in which they are found. This report will be updated as the farm bill is developed.