Investing in conservation is good for family farmers and good for the planet. That’s why Farm Aid joined 644 groups representing America’s farmer, rancher, sportsmen, wildlife and conservation, to call on Congress to follow through on its promise to Protect Ag Conservation.
Investing in climate-resilient agriculture is one of the quickest and best ways Congress can directly equip farmers and ranchers, energize rural economies, improve climate resilience, and ensure that agriculture is part of a solution for climate change. Farmers and ranchers are ready: each year demand for preserving land for conservation outpaces availability by 13.8 million acres.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022, invested $20 billion in programs that enabled farmers and ranchers to build soil health, sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also improving water quality and efficiency, building resilience to drought and flood and protecting agricultural lands for future generations. As our partners at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition note, these programs are historically over-subscribed and underfunded, especially the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)–the program with the strongest suite of tools to support farmers to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate. These programs must be protected in the 2023 Farm Bill.
We have a once-in-a-generation chance to confront the climate crisis and farmers and ranchers are ready to lead the way.
Read the letter to members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and see the complete list of partner organizations here: