SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COALTION
For Immediate Release Contact: Ferd Hoefner
June 20, 2003 202-547-5754
HOUSE RE-OPENS FARM BILL
Deep Cuts in Rural Development, Ag Research, Conservation, and Renewable
Energy
The fiscal year 2004 agricultural appropriations bill approved by the House
subcommittee June 17 and headed to a vote in full committee on June 25 re-opens
the 2002 farm bill. According to an analysis by the Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition, based on Congressional Budget Office figures, the appropriations
bill proposes to slash funding for key family farm, rural development,
conservation, and research farm bill programs by $445 million. The bill would reduce
rural development farm bill funding by 99%, agricultural research by 98%,
renewable energy by 31%, and conservation by at least 17%. The bill also prohibits
funding for implementation of country-of-origin labeling for meat. The
subcommittee's revamping of farm bill funding levels leaves commodity programs,
which account for nearly three-quarters of total farm bill spending, untouched.
"The backdoor effort to eliminate funding for the Conservation Security
Program, Value-Added Producer Grant Program, and other innovative initiatives to
support family farms and the environment is unwise," said Ferd Hoefner,
Washington Representative for the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. "The
agricultural appropriations funding problem - an allocation $393 million below this
year's levels - is real, but raiding the farm bill and taking away conservation and
rural development funding is not the answer. If the very compromises that
enabled the farm bill to pass are scuttled by the House bill in this manner,
then we are likely headed for a re-run of the entire farm bill debate later this
summer."
The House bill proposes to eliminate the Conservation Security Program,
Value-Added Producer Grants program, On-Farm Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
grants, Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems, and Broadband
Access for Rural Areas, among others. Significant cuts are also made to the
Wetlands Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The
savings gained by the appropriators through these offsets are:
Conservation Security Program - $53 million
Value-Added Producer Grants - $40 million
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Grants - $23 million
Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems - $120 million
Broadband Access for Rural Areas - $20 million
Wetlands Reserve Program - $56 million
Environmental Quality Incentive Program - $25 million
--end--
Erin E. Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
[log in to unmask]
www.iowa.sierraclub.org
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