Sustainable Agriculture

Farmers who want to adopt sustainable practices on their land often turn to two government programs: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program. The former funds individual projects like cover crops, forest buffers, and pollinator habitat, while the latter involves a holistic management plan for the whole farm.
Both programs are very popular -- forced to turn away three-quarters of the people who apply due to limited funds.1 Yet the House of Representatives wants to get rid of one!

Instead of dropping conservation programs, the House of Representatives should incorporate the SOIL Stewardship Act. This bill would level the playing field between corporations and small farmers by:
capping overall payments while increasing payment rates to farmers
requiring applicants be actively engaged in their farm
easing the transition to organic farming
increasing support for beginning farmers and wildlife habitat
encouraging crop rotation and rotational, pasture-based grazing, and
removing a mandate that 60 percent of all funding go toward livestock production