Conservation Across Agricultural Landscapes

Few Thoughts From the

National Forum on US Agricultural Policy and the 2007 Farm Bill: Conserving Economic Resilience and

Ecological Integrity of American Farmlands

Kaush Arha

Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University

Outline

What is at stake - The Conservation Field

How Current Ag-Conservation Programs Work

Performance of Current Ag-Conservation Programs & Areas of Improvement

Way Forward

Conservation Across Agricultural Landscapes

What is at Stake –

The Conservation Field

Agricultural Lands Across United States

Table 1. US Land Ownership and Use in Million Acres, 2002.[1]

Ownership Cropland Grassland Pasture & Rangeland

Forestland*

Special & Urban uses and Misc.+

Total~

Federal -- 152 246 237 635

State & other public

3 40 70 82 195

American Indian^

2 36 11 7 56

Private 436 358 422 162 1,378

Total 442 587 749 487 2,264

* Includes reserved forest land in parks and other special uses. + Excludes about 98 million acres of forest lands that are counted as forestland.^ Managed in trust by Bureau of Indian Affairs for American Indian and Alaskan Native tribes and individuals.~ Distributions may not add to totals due to rounding.

Dominant Landscapes Across Lower 48 States

Water

Conservation

Species Conservation

Soil

Conservation

Air quality, carbon sequestration, rural amenities etc.

Ecosystem Services From Agricultural Lands

Nutrient Mgmt

Vegetation (Native)

Soil

Water

Air Quality

Biodiversity

WetlandsPollination

Carbon Sequestration

Scenic & Rec. Amenities

Crop Production

Conservation Across Agricultural Landscapes

Current Ag-Conservation Programs: A Review

Major Agricultural Conservation Programs

Compliance ProgramsConservation Compliance, Sodbuster,

SwampbusterLand Retirement ProgramsConservation Reserve Prog (CRP), Wetland

Reserve Prog (WRP), Grassland Reserve Prog. Working Land ProgramsEnvironmental Quality Incentives Program

(EQIP), Conservation Security Prog (CSP), Wildlife Habitat Incentives Prog (WHIP)

Technical AssistanceConservation Techincal Assistance

Evolution of Ag- Conservation Programs

The 2002 Farm Bill Attempted to balance land retirement and working land programs – Increased EQIP, introduced CSP, and curtailed performance measures.

Agricultural Conservation Funding in $ million

Program 2002 2003 2004 2005*

Land Retirement CRPWRPGrassland Reserve Program

1,785 284

-

1,789 309 39

1,799 285 55

1,937 268 128

Working LandEQIPCSPWHIP

390

- 15

390

- 24

390 41 38

390 202 47

Technical AssistanceConservation Technical Assistance

679 716 742 720

Agricultural Land Preservation Farm & Ranchland Protection Prog.

51 78 91 112

Top States in Ag-Conservation Funds $ million

States CRP WRP EQIP CSP FRPP Total*

Iowa 217.5 13.3 13.0 18.6 0 264.0

Texas 140.4 0.6 47.8 2.3 1.5 193.4

Minnesota 110.6 15.4 14.7 5.6 0 147.1

Missouri 105.3 10.5 9.1 19.0 0 146.4

Illinois 120.2 9.5 6.1 9.4 0 145.5

Kansas 116.0 0.7 14.7 10.1 0.4 142.6

Montana 113.5 0.4 15.6 11.2 0.8 142.6

NorthDakota

110.0 2.1 10.0 5.6 0.4 128.7

Nebraska 71.2 4.4 20.2 7.7 0.2 104.1

Washington 78.5 2.9 9.7 6.4 1.1 101.1

Geographical Distribution Commodity Payments

Top 25%

Lowest 25%

Second 25%

Third 25%

Commodity Payments as a Percent of Gross Cash Receipts, State Rankings, 2004

Conservation Across Agricultural Landscapes

Performance of Current Ag-Conservation Programs & Areas of Improvement

Performance of Current Ag-Conservation Prog

Soil Erosion on Cropland: 43% drop between 1982-2003 from 3.06 to 1.75 billion tons/year [Compliance, CRP, EQIP] Wetlands: loss to agriculture drops from 500,000+ ac/yr in 1954-74 to 26,000 ac/yr in 1992-97 to no net loss in 1997-2003. Gain of 260,000 acres in 1997-2003. [Compliance, CRP, WRP]Wildlife: tough to measure but extraordinary benefits to grassland species including ring-necked pheasant and waterfowl. Water- ??

GOOD FOUNDATION TO DO A LOT GOOD FOUNDATION TO DO A LOT MORE AND BETTERMORE AND BETTER

Areas of Improvement in Ag - Conservation

Broad application across all agricultural landscapesAccount for full range of ecosystem servicesImprove Conservation Effectiveness Strategic application across landscapes to address

pressing conservation issues Ready performance measures Robust reporting (& enforcement) Coordinated delivery of ag-conservation programs

Better use of institutional measures to facilitate cooperative federalism and new markets

Conservation Across Agricultural Landscapes

Way Forward – A New Ag-Conservation Paradigm

New Paradigm for Agricultural Conservation

Conservation Across Agricultural Landscapes - Explicit Objective of US Agricultural PolicyConserving Ecosystem Services Across All Agricultural Landscapes – stated goal of Ag-Conservation Programs Conservation Effectiveness Strategic application & performance by local watersheds Land Stewardship Standard Whole Farm Stewardship Agreement

Institutional Measures Cooperative Federalism New Markets WTO Compatibility

Conservation Effectiveness: Watershed Approach

Conservation Effectiveness: Watershed Approach

Feng et. al, Iowa Ag. Review, Fall 2006

Conservation Effectiveness: Land Stewardship Standard

Voluntary standard to receive any USDA funds

Guiding Principles Minimize environmental impact from farm to watershed Promote practices that benefits the farm Ease in implementation preferably as part of farm ops.

Potential variables Soil management plan: Sodbuster Discourage conversion of sensitive habitats e.g. wetland :

Swampbuster Nutrient management plan

Conservation Effectiveness: Nutrient Mgmt.

Conservation Across Agricultural Landscapes

Land Stewardship Standard Soil ManagementNutrient Management Wetland (or other sensitive habitat) Conversion

Whole Farm Stewardship Agreement

Land Retirement

Working Land Programs

Technical Assistance

Field:

Coordinated Implementation & Reward on Performance

Watershed:

Conservation Priorities & Performance Measure

Cooperative FederalismNew Markets