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In late June, a group of farmers and ranchers—many enrolled in the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡â€™s Conservation Ranching program—joined ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ staff and field experts in Washington, DC, to advocate for a conservation-forward Farm Bill. The visit to Capitol Hill coincided with the release of a Farm Bill discussion draft by the Senate Agriculture Committee, creating a timely opportunity to elevate the role of voluntary, incentive-based conservation that not only supports working lands, but healthy grassland ecosystems and bird habitat.

Ranchers Come to Capitol Hill

Over a two-day period, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡â€™s rancher delegation and staff met with 18 Congressional offices from seven states. Ranchers shared stories about partnership programs such as ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ Conservation Ranching, that help keep their operations profitable by opening new market opportunities and incentivizing regenerative production practices. The group also highlighted the need for additional federal investment to promote the conversion of marginal cropland to native grasses for grazing.

With the nation’s cattle herd at its smallest size in over 70 years, restoring grassland ecosystems while sustaining ranching businesses represents a unique win-win opportunity to promote economic resilience in rural America and enhance wildlife habitat for threatened bird species.

A contingent of ranchers and key staff also made time to head over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to meet with Richard Fordyce, the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation. Opportunities like this, where producers directly inform decision making and policy delivery, are essential to ensuring agricultural conservation works for those stewarding the land every day. Because USDA maintains significant flexibility to prioritize and implement conservation programs, it’s imperative to pair the push for a conservation-forward Farm Bill in Congress with related advocacy at the Executive Branch. The group shared a similar message: Pairing grassland restoration on less productive cropland with grazing supports the longevity of ranching communities while improving soil health, protecting water quality, and helping wildlife.

The group emphasized with policy makers that producers need improved access to trusted experts who assist with conservation planning and delivery. One of the biggest barriers to conservation on private lands is not the lack of money, but an absence of trusted technical assistance, planning support, and implementation capacity. Federal agencies and Congress, as well as state and local governments, Tribes, and NGOs like ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ all have important roles to play in this process.

The Senate Farm Bill Draft: ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡â€™s Key Takeaways

With the release of a discussion draft, the Farm Bill process is now well underway in the Senate. The draft bill mirrors the House-passed Farm Bill in several key ways:

• Creates and funds a new Forest Conservation Easement Program
• Reauthorizes and makes small tweaks to several U.S. Forest Service programs vital to protecting bird habitat, including the Landscape Scale Restoration Program and Water Source Protection Program
• Reduces burdensome paperwork requirements in the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
• Streamlines the process for non-federal conservation experts to provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers implementing on-the-ground conservation practices

The draft bill also contains several interesting changes that could boost conservation efforts on working farms, ranches, and forests, and help bird populations thrive. First, it provides critical updates to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) by including the CRP Improvement and Flexibility Act, an ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡-endorsed, bipartisan bill that promotes sustainable grazing through cost-share assistance for fencing and water distribution and increases payments to better compensate farmers for conserving wildlife habitat.

Second, the discussion draft provides additional funding for watershed planning and the implementation of state forest action plans, as well as adding new authority for Tribes to take the lead on critical forest health and resiliency efforts. These new provisions will strengthen federal, state, Tribal, and private forest management tools that respond to the threat of wildfire, combat invasive species, and restore wildlife habitat. Lastly, the language introduces an interesting new policy proposal: a state conservation assistance program. This program would provide matching funds for new and existing state-run agriculture and forestry conservation efforts.

Should this proposal advance in the Farm Bill process, it has the potential to ensure conservation remains locally led while amplifying the impact of programs that demonstrate successful models of working lands restoration. For example, it could support scaling the innovative Conservation Forage Program in North Dakota, which incentivizes producers to establish native grasses on marginal cropland, thereby improving soil health and creating essential nesting and foraging habitat for birds and other wildlife.

As the Farm Bill process continues to move forward, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ is committed to ensuring farmers, ranchers, and foresters are at the center of conversations about improving our nation’s commitment to working lands conservation. The release of draft text in the Senate is an encouraging sign that can help build momentum towards bipartisan action in Congress.

As we approach eight years since the passage of the last Farm Bill, it is more urgent than ever to maintain momentum among lawmakers, agricultural producers, and the broad community of stakeholders involved in federal agriculture policy.