Agricultural Conservation: A Guide to Programs
Released: 2018-04-17T00:00:00

Introduction

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers a number of agricultural conservation programs that assist private landowners with natural resource concerns. These include working land programs, land retirement and easement programs, watershed programs, emergency programs, technical assistance, and other programs. The number and funding levels for agricultural conservation programs have steadily increased over the past 60 years. Early conservation efforts undertaken by Congress were focused on reducing high levels of soil erosion and providing water to agriculture in quantities and quality that enhanced farm production. By the early 1980s, however, concern was growing that these programs were not adequately dealing with environmental problems resulting from agricultural activities (especially off the farm). In 1985, conservation policy took a new direction when Congress passed the Food Security Act of 1985 (1985 farm bill, P.L. 99-198 ), which established the first conservation programs designed to deal with environmental issues resulting from agricultural activities.

Provisions enacted in subsequent farm bills, including in 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014, reflect a rapid evolution of the conservation agenda, including the growing influence of environmentalists and other nonagricultural interests in the formulation of conservation policy, and a recognition that agriculture was not treated like other business sectors in many environmental laws. Congress also began funding many of these new programs through mandatory spending for the first time, using the borrowing authority of USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as the funding mechanism instead of annual appropriations. In addition to the original soil erosion and water quality and quantity issues, the conservation agenda has continued to expand to address other natural resource concerns, such as wildlife habitat, air quality, wetlands restoration and protection, energy efficiency, and sustainable agriculture.

Lead agricultural conservation agencies within USDA are the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which provides technical assistance and administers most conservation programs, and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which administers the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). These agencies are supported by others in USDA that supply research and educational assistance, including the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Economic Research Service (ERS), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and the Forest Service (FS). In addition, agricultural conservation programs involve a large array of partners, including other federal agencies, state and local governments, and private organizations, among others, who provide funds, expertise, and other forms of assistance to further agricultural conservation efforts.

Overview

USDA provides technical and financial assistance to attract interest and encourage participation in conservation programs. Participation in all USDA conservation programs is voluntary. These programs protect soil, water, wildlife, and other natural resources on privately owned agricultural lands to limit environmental impacts of production activities both on and off the farm, while maintaining or improving production of food and fiber. Some of these programs center on improving or restoring resources that have been degraded, while others seek to create conditions with the objective of limiting degradation in the future.

Though programs in this report are listed alphabetically, agricultural conservation programs can be grouped into the following categories based on similarities: working land programs, land retirement and easement programs, watershed programs, emergency programs, compliance, technical assistance, and other programs and overarching provisions.

The majority of conservation programs are funded through USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as mandatory spending. Congress authorizes mandatory programs at specified funding levels (or acreage enrollment levels for CRP and CSP) for multiple years, typically through omnibus legislation such as the farm bill. Mandatory programs are funded at these levels unless Congress limits funding to a lower amount through the appropriations or legislative process (or puts a ceiling on acreage that can be enrolled). Discretionary programs are funded each year through the annual appropriations process.

Despite a steady increase in mandatory funding authority, select conservation programs have been reduced or capped through annual appropriation acts since FY2003. Many of these spending reductions were at the request of the Administration. The mix of programs and amount of reductions vary from year to year. Some programs, such as the CRP, have not been reduced by appropriators in recent years, while others, such as EQIP, have been repeatedly reduced below authorized levels. Authorized mandatory funding for conservation programs has been reduced by a total of more than $4 billion over the past 10 years. FY2018 marks the first time in 15 years that an appropriations act does not reduce mandatory conservation program funding.

Sequestration has also had an effect on conservation programs. Sequestration is a process of automatic, largely across-the-board reductions that permanently cancel mandatory and/or discretionary budget authority to enforce statutory budget goals. Discretionary accounts have avoided sequestration in recent years through adjustments to spending limits, although sequestration continues on mandatory accounts. Most all mandatory conservation programs were subject to sequestration in FY2014 through FY2018. Even with sequestration and appropriations act reductions, total annual mandatory funding for conservation programs has grown from a total of $3.9 billion in FY2008 to over $5 billion in FY2018.

2014 Farm Bill

Before the 1985 farm bill, few conservation programs existed, and only two would be considered large by today's standards. In contrast, leading up to the debate on the 2014 farm bill, there were over 20 distinct conservation programs with total annual spending greater than $5 billion. The differences and number of these programs created general confusion about the purpose, participation, and policies of the programs. Discussion about simplifying or consolidating conservation programs to reduce overlap and duplication, and to generate savings, continued for a number of years. The Agricultural Act of 2014 ( P.L. 113-79 , 2014 farm bill), contained several program consolidation measures, including the repeal of 12 active and inactive programs, the creation of two new programs, and the merging of two programs into existing ones.

Unfunded and Repealed Programs

A number of conservation programs were repealed by the 2014 farm bill or have gone unfunded by Congress in recent years. Table 1 lists these programs and the most recent congressional action taken.

Conservation Programs

The tabular presentation that follows provides basic information covering each of the USDA agricultural conservation programs, including

administering agency or agencies within USDA; brief program description; major amendments to the program in the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( P.L. 113-79 ), commonly referred to as the 2014 farm bill; national scope and availability, including participation levels and acres enrolled; states with the highest level of funds obligated or acres enrolled; volume of application backlog or public interest in each program; authorized funding levels, whether mandatory spending or discretionary appropriations, and any funding restrictions; FY2018 funding level in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-124 ), or, if applicable, the authorized level in the Agricultural Act of 2014 (sequestration and carryover not included unless noted); FY2019 funding level requested by the Administration (sequestration and carryover included where known); statutory authority, recent amendments, and U.S. Code reference; expiration date of program authority unless permanently authorized; and program's website link.

Information for the following tables is drawn from agency budget presentations, explanatory notes, and websites; written responses to questions published each year in hearing records of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees; and spending estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. Further information about these programs may be found on the NRCS website at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov and on the "conservation programs" page of the FSA website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov .

Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)

Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA)

Conservation Operations (CO)—Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA)

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

CRP—Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

CRP—Farmable Wetland Program

CRP—Grasslands

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)

Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP)

Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP)

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

EQIP—Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG)

Grassroots Source Water Protection Program

Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP)

Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program

Water Bank Program

Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations

Watershed Rehabilitation Program