WASHINGTON, D.C. — While no one can be certain what the final 2012 farm bill will look like or when it will be delivered, conservation programs for farmers will face drastic cuts and consolidation under the Federal Agricultural Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012 (FARMM), the House Committee on Agriculture’s version of the farm bill.

FARRM (H.R. 6083) was approved by the committee by a vote of 35-11 last week. “This is a balanced, reform-minded, fiscally responsible bill that underscores our commitment to production agriculture and rural America, achieves real savings, and improves program efficiency,” stated committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.).

Along with the elimination of direct payments and other reforms to commodity policy designed to save taxpayers more than $14 billion, cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of $26 billion and savings of “more than $35 billion in mandatory funding,” according to the committee, FARRM authorizes more than $6 billion in cuts to conservation programs through consolidation.

“We made historic changes to the conservation title,” Lucas said during a business meeting to discuss the legislation two days prior to the committee’s vote. “This is a title that has been close to my heart for a long time. Instead of the piecemeal approach we have used for years, we made a comprehensive overhaul of conservation programs, which eliminates duplication and improves efficiency. We consolidated the current 23 programs to 13; this saves $6 billion.”

Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), said maintaining current conservation program funding levels should be a key component of a new farm bill.

“This is an anti-reform bill – bad for family farmers, rural communities and the environment. It will need to be reworked very substantially to gain the support of our coalition of farm and rural groups as the process moves forward,” said Hoefner.

According to the NSAC, the bill significantly limits the tools available to farmers to deal with soil and water improvements in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather and production conditions.

“A modern, fiscally responsible farm safety net would not just pay farmers for a loss but help them to prevent it in the future. By cutting acreage for the Conservation Stewardship Program by a whopping 30 percent, the draft House bill is telling farmers to ‘go it alone’ if they want to be proactive about smart land management,” Hoefner said July 6, before the Ag Committee approved the bill and its cuts to conservation programs.

He didn’t like the omission of a national Sodsaver provision to protect native grasslands. By allowing only a regional provision, “the committee has ignored the call by sportsmen, conservationists and farmers for a national Sodsaver provision. The bill includes a piecemeal Sodsaver provision that would cause administrative headaches and farmer anger over arbitrary lines and inequities.”

Other conservation groups to issue statements took the proposed cuts to conservation programs in stride, including the American Soybean Assoc. (ASA). “ASA supports a number of provisions throughout the House proposal, including ... the focus within the conservation title on working-lands conservation and a gradual reduction of acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program,” said President Steve Wellman, in a statement issued prior to the committee’s vote.

Farm World contacted both the U.S. and Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices last week requesting comment regarding FARMM Act cuts to conservation programs. NRCS administers federal and regional conservation programs authorized by the farm bill.

“Until the final details are hammered out, (State Conservationist Ivan) Dozier’s comments simply reflect those of NRCS (federal) Chief Dave White, who has indicated that he is satisfied with the farm bill proposals that address streamlining operations, consolidation of programs, retaining program flexibility and emphasis on partnerships and leveraging assistance,” said Paige Buck, public information officer for the NRCS Illinois office, in an email.

The NRCS did not respond to request for comment before press deadline.

Other points in the FARRM Act include reducing the acreage cap for all programs from the current 32 million acres to 25 million by 2017, allowing a one-time early termination option for an owner or operator if a contract has been in effect for at least five years. It revises the Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program to eliminate minimum contract requirements, and creating a new Agricultural Conservation Easement program, with funding starting at $450 million in fiscal year 2013 and decreasing to $266 million by 2017.

The entire FARRM Act can be viewed online at www.agriculture.house.gov