Though the most recent federal Farm Bill was passed in February, few state and local agencies know yet exactly how they will be affected. One of the big changes in the bill, however, was a consolidation of voluntary conservation programs as well as a slight decrease in funding for them. Those programs have been used heavily in La Plata and Montezuma counties.
One program, the Conservation Reserve Program, which began in 1980, provides payments to farmers who choose to set aside for 10 years land that has a lower soil quality. The government pays program participants for the rental value of the land, making participation in the program a viable alternative to selling the land to a developer or trying to grow crops on it.
Paul White of the Montezuma Farm Service Agency, who administers the Conservation Reserve Program, says most local producers put their land into the program because the average age of the American farmer is around 70, and it would be hard to do much else with the land.
CRP participants in La Plata county received $509,524 in payments in 2012, according to the Environmental Working Group, an organization that publishes subsidy information for various farm bill programs. Nationwide, $71 million is spent on the program.
The 2014 Agricultural Act lowered the CRP cap to 26 million acres, though some say that tracks the decrease in the program because of increasing commodity prices.
White says decreased enrollment absolutely could be because of young farmers looking for higher commodity prices. However, he says some farmers are sharp enough to know that commodity prices are volatile, and the current spike in prices, especially as a result of increased ethanol production, will not last, while payments from the CRP will.
Joel Lee of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Montezuma County agrees. Though some producers might be able to make more profit on their land by enrolling in the CRP than farming it, there are lots of older farmers with no one to take their land who end up in the program.
Some area farmers and ranchers participate in two other programs administered by the NRCS.
The Conservation Stewardship Program provides farmers and agricultural producers with a reimbursement for doing conservation work, as well as contracts for additional work. However, this program often does not have many participants, said Sterling Moss of the NRCS in Durango, because of record-keeping requirements and the fact that it is a reimbursement program rather than payment for a proposed project.
Payments for proposed conservation projects are done through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides direct financial assistance for participation in efforts to improve rangelands, irrigated croplands, forests and wildlife habitats. In the last few years, Moss said, more than $900,000 has been given to La Plata County participants in EQIP, and they get more than 75 contracts for conservation projects every year.
The same is true for Montezuma county, Lee said. In contrast to the Conservation Stewardship Program, where only a few have applied in the last few years, many people are a part of EQIP.
Moss said the NRCS still is waiting to figure out how funding will change as a result of the new Farm Bill but does not believe things will fluctuate much.
Katie Fiegenbaum is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald. Reach her at kfiegenbaum@durangoherald.com.
