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News Brief

Sept. 24, 2018Iowa |  By: Connor Raabe

Pending farming bill being negotiated for Iowa

While lawmakers in Iowa negotiate the terms to a pending farm bill, Iowa conservation groups are urging Congress to maintain funding for working lands conservation programs. Nearly 98 % of Iowa's 33 million acres are privately owned, meaning it's up to farmers, ranchers and other landowners to voluntarily participate in conservation programs. 

Since 1995, Iowa farmers have recieved $5 billion in federal conservation funds, and Iowa Wildlife Federation President, Joe Wilkinson, says everyone benefits.

"Any incentives we can get to get landowners to put more land into wildlife habit, into conservation programs is important because we don't have the public acres that other states do."  

Conservation programs promote enhanced wildlife habitat, better drinking water, and increased flood control.

The farm bill proposed by the House would cut nearly $800 million over 10 years, while funding is consistent in the Senate bill. The current farm bill expires Sunday.
Aviva Glaser, director of agriculture policy with the National Wildlife Federation, says these types of conservation programs help keep farms and ranches in private hands, while protecting natural resources for future generations. She notes that in 2016, Iowa's $372 million share was one of the nation's largest.

"This is going to help farmers and ranchers do practices on their land to help improve water quality, to help improve wildlife habit, build soil health."

The large cuts to conservation funding in the previous farm bill meant a reduction of easements. Wilkinson says farmers and ranchers who focus on conservation are helping protect species like monarch butterflies and pheasants.

"It is helped our pheasant population and that is a big economic value in Iowa because pheasant hunting in small-town Iowa is a big deal in the fall.  It's important more than the envrironmental conservation side of it, there's rural economic value to it."

In an effort to protect what's left of America's grassland's which are down to 5% of their orignial acreage, The National Wildlife Federation also wants Congress to include a national Sodsaver provision in the farm bill.