By Andi Anderson
A bipartisan effort is underway to help farmers adopt better conservation practices through a bill called the Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act. Led by U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the bill proposes modernizing the process used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to update its conservation practice standards.
The Act has three key goals. First, it requires the USDA to regularly review existing standards to keep them up to date. Second, it creates a public process for submitting and adopting new conservation methods, making it easier for farmers and experts to share ideas. Third, it encourages the USDA to prioritize new technologies, such as biological fertilizers, that improve nutrient efficiency and soil health.
“Traveling across Iowa, I regularly hear from farmers who are eager to implement conservation practices that improve soil health, water quality, and long-term productivity — but they face real barriers when rigid USDA standards slow things down,” said Senator Ernst. “I’m leading the Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act to modernize how USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service updates its technical standards. Ultimately, the goal is simple: let’s cut the red tape, let’s keep standards science-based and flexible, and help farmers get conservation tools in use faster.”
“Iowa continues to lead and set records in conservation, but there’s still significant work to be done in the years and decades to come. The USDA is an important federal partner in these efforts, and it is essential that we streamline the review and approval of new technologies and practices that are proven to help farmers and landowners improve soil health and water quality,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.“Improving efficiency, transparency, and predictability within federal programs will help us strengthen our partnerships, accelerate the adoption of conservation practices and make progress on Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy goals.”
“By leveraging innovations in regenerative agriculture and soil health practices, we can help farmers and producers make their working lands more resilient,” said Senator Heinrich. “Our bipartisan legislation accomplishes this by updating and streamlining the process for developing new conservation practice standards at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. This will allow producers to build more resilience into their operations.”
“Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in planted cropland, but for years, has ranked as low as 37th in farm conservation funds that USDA distributes to help farmers adopt cover crops, conservation tillage, and other critical environmental practices. USDA's statewide one-size-fits-all conservation practice rules do not always match the unique needs of each farm,” said Senator Durbin. “This bill creates a process to add more flexibility to these standards, provide routine updates to keep up with the latest innovations, and ensure more academic and farmer input into developing the conservation practices.”
In summary, this bipartisan legislation aims to help farmers across the U.S. adopt more effective conservation practices by making the USDA’s approval process faster, fairer, and more flexible.
Photo Credit: usda
Categories: Iowa, Government & Policy