Battle Brewing Over Land Use
The fiscal 1997 agriculture appropriations bill seems headed to a major confrontation
pitting farmers and environmentalists against agribusiness. At stake is the 36.4 million
acre Conservation Reserve Program in which farmers are paid about 1.8 billion dollars a
year to not use "environmentally sensitive" land.
During fiscal 1996, congress restricted the Agriculture Department from adding any new
land into the program in a cost cutting manuever. But with the signing of the Farm Bill
on April 4 of this year, a provision was added by agriculture committee members, which
allowed conservation signups to continue and payments mandatory.
Now the Coalition for a Competitive Food and Agricultural System have been lobbying to limit
the sign-ups again. The grain traders and other agribusinesses which make up the CCFAS want
Congress to bar the Agriculture Department from spending any money to administer sign-ups
in fiscal 1997.
The coalition believes that 1 to 2 million acres could be taken out of the conservation program
in fiscal 1997, and 12 million more the following year. They believe the land could be put back
into production , possibly to increase the nation's low grain stocks, with little or no
environmental damage.
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