A Report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) says USDA conservation programs reject most applicants.
The report also revealed that programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program and Conservation Reserve Program pay for practices that are deemed to be harmful to the environment in 12 states with high agricultural production. They include the Dakotas and Illinois, Indiana, Iowa. Kansas, Michigan. Minnesota. Missouri. Nebraska. Ohio.
“This report reveals that current resources have been misdirected to polluting large operations, while thousands of farmers are being refused contracts that could pay for conservation improvements and improve their bottom lines,” the authors of the report wrote. “Reforms must be made to ensure that EQIP funds are only used for environmentally beneficial practices.”
The report identifies ten environmental practices it considers harmful and includes them in funding for EQIP. Six out of the ten practices that were identified are associated with livestock raging. Two other practices are used widely by growers, some of which are not-tillers.
- Underground outlets, pipes that carry water from nearby streams, are especially useful in situations where there is no water pond or pool on the farm fields. This is identified by the USDA practice number No. 620.
- Subsurface drainage is also known as drainage tiling (or tiling), and is used to remove excess salts. This is designated by USDA No. 602
Illinois was the only state that included one of these two practices among the 12 states it examined. In 2020, Illinois spent $2.5 million more on underground outlets than any other EQIP practice. Illinois’s top five programs did not include cover crops.
The report also showed that each state provided an average of 3.3% EQIP funding for farmers in the socially disadvantaged group, which includes farmers who are of color. South Dakota provided about 13% of its EQIP funding to farmers of color.
According to data compiled and published by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, (NSAC), Midwest states granted between 1-13 percent of their EQIP contracts for socially disadvantaged farmers. This is the umbrella term USDA uses to describe farmers of color. “In some cases, the low number of contracts awarded to farmers who are of color is indicative of a low total number farmers in that state. There are however states like South Dakota where farmers are better represented in EQIP agreements. This likely reflects the large number Native American farmers living in the state.
In 2020, cover crops were the most popular practice in Indiana (5.4 million), Iowa ($6.3 million), Michigan (3.33 million), Missouri (5.52 million), and Wisconsin (6.22 million).
Click here to read more No-Till News.
