In the next five years, farmers tilling over 200 million acres of cropland will need the technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve their practices. Although the cost of meeting these demands may seem high, the cost of ignoring them is far greater. Conservation programs under the farm bill make significant contributions to addressing many of these concerns. Conservation programs can also help many farmers who otherwise do not benefit from federal farm programs. Currently, two thirds of all farmers fail to receive direct farm payments, including the vast majority of ranchers, livestock owners and producers of specialty crops like fruit and vegetables.
Many states receive little to no assistance.
But conservation programs can and should provide income support that is available to all farmers, ranchers and foresters. Through the budget resolution, we, the co-signers of this letter, hope you will set the tone for farm policy this year by using resources from the natural resources and environment function and the agriculture function to address the needs of producers, consumers and taxpayers.