President Obama requested to cut the congressional budget for Farm Bill conservation programs in FY 2013 by nearly $600 million. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) says the short-term savings could end up being costly to agriculture and the environment. Sara Hopper, agricultural policy director for the Environmental Defense Fund says Farm Bill conservation programs represent an investment in the long-term health of both American agriculture and producers. “When farmers put up their own money to share the cost of providing all Americans with cleaner air and water,” she says. “The government should meet them half way, not reject them.”
Over the last five years, EDF reports Congress has cut conservation funding by $2.8 billion or 81 percent of the nearly $3.5 billion in Farm Bill spending cuts. EDF also says high commodity prices have driven an increase in production on marginal, environmentally sensitive lands.
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