74 research outputs found
Soil and Water Conservation: An Overview
Soil and water conservation topics are prominent in discussions of policy options for the next farm bill, which the 110th Congress is considering. Major conservation topics include where to set overall funding levels and levels for each program; what should be the priorities for the conservation effort; and deciding whether any existing programs or activities should be modified or eliminated and whether new programs or activities should be added to the effort. Addressing these topics often pits supporters of commodity programs and the traditional farm program benefits against those who would like to see an expanded conservation effort.
The House passed its version of the farm bill on July 27, 2007 (H.R. 2419) by a vote of 231 to 191. Numerous options for conservation provisions were offered as the legislation moved through the House, but the conservation title was passed largely as reported by the Agriculture Committee and modified by a chairman’s mark. This legislation would increase funding for many conservation programs and add a number of small new programs to the conservation portfolio while delaying further implementation of the Conservation Security Program until FY2012. The Senate passed its version of this legislation on December 14 (H.R. 2419, amended) by a vote of 79 to 14, after adopting a wide-ranging manager’s amendment. This legislation would create a new Conservation Stewardship Program that combines features of the Conservation Security and Environmental Quality Incentives Programs. It would provide level funding for most existing conservation programs and create several new programs within existing programs.
The House- and Senate-passed versions differ in numerous ways that will have to be resolved by the conference committee; the most significant of these differences is that the House version allows no new signups in the Conservation Security Program (CSP) until FY2012 while the Senate version replaces the CSP with a new Conservation Stewardship Program and requires that more than 13 million acres be enrolled annually. While the House bill would increase conservation funding by more than 4.8 billion, the differences in which programs would be increased, and by how much, must also be resolved.
Congressional appropriators influence the scope and scale of conservation programs annually. The President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, on December 26, 2007. It provides funding for the rest of FY2008. It makes several adjustments to funding for conservation programs (for example, limiting funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to $1.0 billion), extends funding for three farm bill programs that expired at the end of FY2007 through March 15, 2008, and includes a 0.7% across-the-board rescission
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Value-Added Agricultural Enterprises in Rural Development Strategies
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Horse Slaughter Prevention Bills and Issues
This report provides evidence of a rise in state and local investigations for horse neglect and more abandoned horses since 2007
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California's San Joaquin Valley: A Region in Transition
This report analyzes the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) counties and statistically documents the basis of current socioeconomic conditions. The report further explores the extent to which the SJV shares similarities with and differs from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) area and a 68- county Central Appalachian subregion which contains some of the most economically distressed counties in Appalachia. The report also examines the role of federal expenditures in the cities and counties of the SJV. In addition to examining socioeconomic conditions in the SJV, the report provides analysis of water supply and quality issues especially those concerning agriculture, air quality concerns, and rail and shipping issues
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The Changing Structure of Agriculture and Rural America: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges
This report provides an overview of Contemporary Rural America. The report discusses the changes that are likely to pose important questions about the direction and coherence of current rural policy. Several significant trends in this evolving structure of agriculture are discussed in this report: (1) a continuation in the trend toward fewer and larger farms; (2) a potential acceleration of that trend as production shifts to more tightly integrated and vertically coordinated production through supply chains; (3) greater environmental pressures on conventional agricultural production practices stemming from urban and suburban interests; and (4) changing food consumption patterns
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Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Current Issues
This report discusses the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enacted in 1985, which provides payments to farmers to take highly erodible or environmentally-sensitive cropland out of production for ten years or more to conserve soil and water resources
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Military Base Closures: Socioeconomic Impacts
The report lists the military installations that the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission approved for closing or realigning and their reasons for either supporting or rejecting the Department of Defense’s original list of recommended closures and realignments
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Military Base Closures: Socioeconomic Impacts
The most recent Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission submitted its final report to the Administration on September 8, 2005. In the report, the commission rejected 13 of the initial Department of Defense recommendations, significantly modified the recommendations for 13 other installations, and approved 22 major closures. The loss of related jobs, and efforts to replace them and to implement a viable base reuse plan, can pose significant challenges for affected communities. This report explores the potential economic impact of military closures on communities, especially rural communities, which are more heavily affected by such closures and suffer from slower economic recovery times in such instances
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Conservation and the 2007 Farm Bill
This report introduces some of the issues that are influencing the development of a conservation title. It then reviews major provisions passed by both chambers, followed by some of the alternative conservation proposals that were offered. An appendix compares current law with the conservation provisions, as passed by both chambers, in more detail
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