What Farm Bill Conservation Can Achieve and a Path to Leveraging Results

A Midwest farm group’s perspective:

Trends, impacts and opportunities

High commodity prices and greater commodity production

High land prices and high credit demand

Massive soil erosion

Intensive consolidation and concentration of ag sectors impacting farm landscape

Very powerful corporate ag lobby

Unbalanced playing field

Demand for working lands programs

Interest in farming

$702 billion = SNAP

$80 billion = Crop Insurance

$70 billion = Commodity Program

$63 billion = Conservation Programs

$6 billion = Everything Else

Tools and resources Working lands suite Land retirement and protection programs Conservation compliance

3,384 applicants 1,578 contracts - second in the nation $21 million to maintain and enhance

conservation - top in the nation

Survey results 95% felt CSP enabled them to do conservation High satisfaction, would recommend to a

neighbor Lack of transparency Inequitable distribution Should be in next Farm Bill

Long-term investments: Passage to Implementation to Usage to Results

Building power: The importance of state and regional-based groups

Groundswell – 101 organizing “Many faces, Many places”

PLAETZ FARM, AUGUST 2009

WASHINGTON D.C. JAN. 2007

SCHWERMANN FARM, JUNE 2008

PETERSON FARM, AUGUST 2008