Assisting Farmers: Accelerating Agricultural Implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategies

Description

The Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions and the Chesapeake Bay Commission respectfully conveyed this policy agreement to their colleagues in the states and the U.S. Congress to stress the critical importance of enhancing support for agricultural conservation. Through this agreement, watershed states resolved to: (1) Pursue funding mechanisms to leverage federal funds with enhanced state funds for conservation practices on working lands throughout the Chesapeake watershed. (2) Provide, in concert with federal programs, adequate levels of technical assistance to meet our Tributary Strategy goals and report annually on efforts to increase participation in conservation programs between now and 2010. (3) Work with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to coordinate the efforts of our technical assistance professionals employed by the state or by conservation districts to align reporting systems and maximize efficient delivery of services.

Watershed states also directed their staff to work with Congress, via reauthorization and/or appropriation, to: (1) Increase federal spending for conservation and conservation-related programs in the Chesapeake Bay region to levels sufficient to meet Tributary Strategy goals. (2) Reform conservation ranking systems to reward farmers who implement practices with the greatest environmental benefits. (3) Create Regional Technical Committees for the rapid deployment of innovative technologies, especially regarding manure and poultry litter. (4) Increase appropriations for the Conservation Technical Assistance Program and other sources of United States Department of Agriculture technical assistance funding to meet regional needs, and to sustain these levels over multiple years to ensure successful implementation and maintenance of practices. (5) Exempt technical assistance for Farm Bill conservation programs from the Commodity Credit Corporation Section 11 spending cap.

Finally, the signatories of this agreement committed to making the 2007 reauthorization of the Farm Bill and related appropriations a top priority in their federal legislative agendas to ensure adequate conservation assistance to farmers.