21 JUN 2017
To: Steven Meeks, VASWCD President, Kendall Tyree, VASWCD Executive Director, & all VA SWCD’s.
SUBJ: Quarterly report on National Association of Conservation District (NACD) Activities for the VASWCD Board Meeting at Staunton, VA on 21 JUN 2017.
FROM: John Peterson, VASWCD NACD Board Representative. Director, Chairman, NO. VA SWCD.
REPORT: This report will cover NACD and partner activities since my last report on March 26th, 2017.
WASHINGTON, June 11, 2017 - Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue heads back to Capitol Hill this week, and he’s likely to face renewed challenges on the president’s budget and proposals to cut and reorganize rural development programs. Perdue will testify Tuesday before theSenate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, whose ranking Democrat, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, has joined the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, in sharply criticizing the rural development plans. In aletterto Perdue on Friday, the senators pressed their concerns about Perdue’s plans to eliminate the undersecretary of rural development as well as the 30 percent cut in spending that President Trump proposed.
“While we appreciate your comments that rural development is a personal priority of yours, given the magnitude of these responsibilities, it is essential that the Senate retain its oversight obligations to review and confirm any nominee that would serve as the leader of the Rural Development mission area,” the senators wrote. Trump’s budget would eliminate numerous popular programsacross the RD mission area, including Business and Industry loans and the Value-Added Producer grants. Overall funding to support Rural Business-Cooperative Service programs would be slashed from $157 million to just $12 million in 2018. While USDA’s workforce would be reduced by 5.5 percent, or 5,263 employees, under the budget, the RD staff would be slashed by nearly 20 percent, dropping from 4,825 to 3,900. Perdue argues that the reorganization would elevate the importance of RD programs because the assistant that he plans to appoint to oversee them would have walk-in privileges with him. During a hearing before House appropriators on May 24, a day after the budget was released, Perdue appeared to back away on some of the proposals, affirming that crop insurance and other farm programs are “extremely important.” The budget would cut crop insurance by $29 billion over 10 years and eliminate the $1.7 billion Food for Peace program as well as two programs that many farm groups consider critical for developing export markets: The Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program.
The National Association of Conservation Districts has reviewed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan to restructure USDA’s mission areas. “As one of USDA’s core partners, NACD’s primary goal is to ensure that American landowners are given the tools and technical assistance they need to conserve and enhance our nation’s natural resources,” NACD President Brent Van Dyke said. “For this reason, we were glad to hear Secretary Perdue say that no reduction in the workforce will occur as a result of the reorganization.” “NACD looks forward to providing input to USDA throughout the reorganization process to ensure continued strong service delivery,” NACD CEO Jeremy Peters said. “Because many of the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts are co-located with USDA field offices, local input is critical as the reorganization progresses to prevent any loss of service.”
The National Association of Conservation Districts calls on Congress to reject President Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget request that includes reckless cuts to every part of USDA, as well as many other federal programs that support voluntary conservation across the country.
The president’s budget requests more than $5 billion in cuts over 10 years to farm bill conservation programs.In FY18, the budget request includes a substantial $350 million cut to mandatory funding for the popular Environmental Quality Incentives Program and a $91 million cut to theConservation Technical Assistance program – the very lifeblood of voluntary conservation in the United States. In its budget, the White House says “(a)gricultural conservation planning is not an inherently governmental function,” that the “private sector can provide this service,” and that “(w)hen the Government funds technical assistance, it crowds out private sector competition.” “We are very concerned that the president’s budget calls for privatizing conservation planning,” NACD President Brent Van Dyke said. “The need for conservation assistance is so immense across the country, it will take every dollar from both the public and the private sectors to get the job done.” The president has requested to cut the Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry programby 46 percent ($98 million)and completely eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s Section 319 grant program, which helps states curb non-point pollution sources like stormwater runoff. The budget would also eliminate the Watershed Operations and Small Watershed Rehabilitation programs, which help local communities improve water quality, control erosion, and restore ailing infrastructure. “We can provide a better approach to conservation than this budget proposal,” NACD CEO Jeremy Peters said. “NACD will work tirelessly to educate our lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the critical importance oflocally-ledconservation, so come fall, they’ll do what’s right by American taxpayers and our country’s natural resources.” The president’s FY18 budget request also includes a budget-related proposal to eliminate the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and enrollment of new acres in the Conservation Stewardship Program. This proposal also recommends suspending new general sign-up acres in the Conservation Reserve Program through 2020.NACD believes this proposal would severely limit voluntary conservation on the ground, and for this reason, finds it unacceptable.
The National Association of Conservation Districts is encouraging Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to remove federal reporting requirements that hinder landowner participation in conservation programs. In a letter, NACD President Brent Van Dyke told Secretary Perdue that requiring federal conservation program participants to register with the federal government’s System for Award Management (SAM) and to obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number has prevented some of our nation’s agricultural producers from working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and their local conservation districts to put needed conservation on the ground. Current law requires all incorporated business entities – including many farms, ranches, and forest operations – to complete SAM and DUNS requirements to receive financial assistance from federal agencies like NRCS. “Through face-to-face, hands-on conservation planning with landowners, conservation districts have seen how the SAM and DUNS reporting requirements have imposed burdens on farmers, ranchers, and private forest owners who protect and improve America’s natural resources by participating in federal conservation programs,” the letter reads. Earlier in Iowa, Secretary Perdue spoke to the importance of conservation in his first major farm policy speech, at one point telling the crowd “I’m on it” when asked if he would curb onerous paperwork for participants in conservation cost-share programs. NACD is hopeful the secretary’s understanding of this issue will lead him to provide much-needed regulatory relief for America’s conservationists.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has selected the chief Republican counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee, Anne Hazlett, to be his new assistant to the secretary for rural development. The position will replace the undersecretary for rural development, a Senate-confirmed position which Perdue is eliminating as part of a reorganization of the department.
“With this addition to USDA Rural Development, rural America will have a seat at the main table and have walk-in privileges with the secretary on day one,” Perdue said. “With her background of advising the Senate committee overseeing agricultural and rural development issues, Anne Hazlett comes with a depth of knowledge and experience perfectly suited to her role in helping to restore prosperity to rural America.” Hazlett also has served as the director of agriculture for her home state of Indiana and as chief of staff to then-Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman ,where she assisted in the creation of the state’s first office of community and rural affairs. Hazlett will directly all three agencies under the Rural Development mission area:the Rural Utilities Service, Rural Business Service and Rural Housing Service. Hazlett holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications from Kansas State University, a law degree from Indiana University and a masters degree in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas.
Last week, NRCS announced it will award 33 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) – totaling $22.6 million – for the 2017 funding cycle to projects that will help to advance the development of tools, technologies, and strategies that support next-generation conservation efforts on working lands and develop market-based solutions to resource challenges. Among the 2017 awardees is the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District in Georgia. The district will use $800,000 in CIG funds to demonstrate the viability of a comprehensive precision irrigation system in the southeastern coastal plain. The complete list of this year’s winners is available on NRCS’ website/
Looking for some tips on how to host successful field days or on-farm demonstrations? USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program released a free, digital toolkit that can help with field day planning, day-of organization, and more, including how to work with the media, create press releases and PSAs, and generate public interest. With advanced planning and coordination, you can use your field day to educate others on best practices, specific management practices and equipment, or to highlight research methods and results. It’s a win-win for you, who may benefit from increased market and brand recognition, and your attendees, who may be inspired to take what they’ve learned and adapt it to their own production system.
Report respectfully submitted by,
John W. Peterson
VASWCD NACD Board Representative
Director, Chairman, No. VA SWCD
Burke, VA 22015