At a House Agriculture Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology Subcommittee hearing Thursday on the importance of voluntary Agriculture Department conservation programs, Republicans and Democrats agreed on the importance of conservation but not on how conservation money in the Inflation Reduction Act should be transferred to the farm bill.
Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., the subcommittee chairman, said in an opening statement that both last year’s committee-passed farm bill and the reconciliation bill would put the unobligated IRA funds into the farm bill conservation title and baseline.
“Reallocating those dollars would increase the title’s baseline over the long term, making it a permanent investment into conservation programs,” Lucas said.
“It also allows for continued support for the orphan programs, increased funding for successful programs like the Small Watershed Program, and the creation of a new forest easement program.”
But Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, the subcommittee ranking member, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., the ranking member on the full House Agriculture Committee, both said they agreed with putting the IRA money into the farm bill but that the original purpose of the IRA program should be maintained.
Tokuda said, “Here’s the hard truth: the weather isn’t what it used to be. No matter what you call it — climate change, extreme weather, shifting seasons — our producers are living it every day. Longer droughts, harder rains, heatwaves in April, frost in May — it’s getting harder to grow the food, fuel, and fiber that this country relies on.”
“And that’s not a partisan talking point. It’s a reality for farmers and ranchers across America,” Tokuda said.
“Programs like EQIP [the Environmental Quality Incentives Program] and CSP [the Conservation Stewardship Program] can help producers adapt. But they’ve been chronically underfunded for decades, turning away thousands of qualified farmers each year – not because the programs don’t work, but because demand far exceeds supply.
“That’s why the Inflation Reduction Act was such a turning point. The conservation investments in the IRA weren’t just a budget line — they were a statement. A bold, time-limited, once-in-a-generation effort to meet demand head-on and finally give producers the access — and the technical support — they need to take on the challenges they’re facing today.
“The IRA wasn’t about business as usual. It was about breaking the logjam. It opened the floodgates to let more farmers and ranchers get the support they’ve been asking for — many for years,” Tokuda said.
Craig added that moving the IRA money into the farm should be done “in a manner that preserves the original intent of the investment and without busting up the farm bill coalition.”
A series of witnesses representing farm and conservation groups testified about a wide range of conservation program and about the maintaining a staff at the Agriculture Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service that can do the work that farmers expect.
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