The big talk in Washington at the end of the first quarter of 2018 might be the Farm Bill. Passed every five years, the Farm Bill contains Congress’ comprehensive agricultural policy, affecting not only row crops, but conservation efforts, nutrition programs, rural development initiatives, and (most important for Tree Farmers) forestry.
But while the Farm Bill does have a separate forestry title, many successful forest conservation activities are funded in the conservation title. You may be familiar with conservation programs like the highly-effective Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Under EQIP, family woodland owners can receive payments for conservation practices that address priority resource concerns, like removing hazardous fuels or restoring forests. In 2016, more than $84 million went to funding forest practices!
In today’s budgetary climate, negotiations on farm bill programs across the board are expected to be tight. As the Agriculture Committees look for potential cost savings, program usage and effectiveness will likely be important discussion points. For this reason, AFF is making sure to educate lawmakers and the public on the effectiveness of Farm Bill programs in forestry.
Last year, we released the 2017 Forests in the Farm Bill report, detailing how important to forest success the Farm Bill is. The bottom line: In just the past 3 years, the Farm Bill’s conservation and forestry programs helped family woodland owners conduct conservation efforts across more
The big talk in Washington this March is might be the Farm Bill. Passed every five years, the Farm Bill contains Congress’ comprehensive agricultural policy, affecting not only row crops, but conservation efforts, nutrition programs, rural development initiatives, and (most important for Tree Farmers) forestry.
