House Ag Committee Supports Farm Bill Programs in Reconciliation Bill
EDGEFIELD, SC — Last week, the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Agriculture held a two-day debate and markup on their portion of the budget reconciliation package, and the final language that was passed includes funding increases for vital private-land conservation programs.
Typically addressed in a periodically renewed Farm Bill, funding in the bill includes increases many of the voluntary programs aimed at encouraging agricultural producers to implement practices that conserve soil, water and wildlife habitat on working lands. It also included funding for “orphan” programs that have mandatory funding status but no permanent funding amount, like Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentive Program, a program that helps states lease private lands for public hunting access. Increases in funding across all conservation-related programs total more than $17 billion over 10 years.
“Voluntary, incentive-based programs help farmers make the most of their land and balance growing food for our nation and supporting clean water and healthy wildlife populations,” NWTF Director of Government Affairs Matt Lindler said. “While the 2018 Farm Bill expired in 2023 and has had two extensions, the committee’s inclusion of these highly popular and competitive programs with long-term funding will help to keep them operational while engaging additional landowners.”
The committee’s great support for these programs also survived the Budget Committee vote on Sunday and goes to the Rules Committee this week before a floor vote is scheduled.
For details on funding levels for each conservation program, please visit the House Committee on Agriculture’s section-by-section document — https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/section_by_section_hac_print_reconciliation_final_700pm.pdf