Newsroom
The Farm Bill
By this time next year, the United States should have a new set of farm policies in place. Why is a Pennsylvania conservation organization talking about this? Because, though many don't realize it, much of U.S. conservation policy is actually enacted through farm policy—the 2002 Farm Bill authorized 20 different conservation programs and $21 billion to fund them. That bill expires in September 2007, and the U.S. House and Senate will soon begin work on the 2007 Farm Bill, which should be enacted by October 2007.
Also, farming is a core part of the regional heritage that we work so hard to preserve. Heritage Conservancy believes that the 2007 Farm Bill offers a unique opportunity to improve and enhance preservation of both the working landscape and open spaces. As Conservancy President Clifford C. David has said, "Life is a lot tougher for farmers here today than it was 50 years ago. Through our resource protection, planning, and stewardship activities and through our new business venture, Heritage Organics, we're working to help farmers and other landowners find economically and environmentally sustainable ways to preserve their land and maintain farming operations."
To ensure that the conservation community's concerns are heard loud and clear in discussions of the 2007 Farm Bill, in August 2006 we hosted 30 conservation leaders and farmers along with then-Senator Rick Santorum for a "Roundtable on Federal Conservation Policy and the 2007 Farm Bill."
Read our July 2006 testimony about the 2007 Farm Bill to the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Stay tuned, as work on this issue continues!
