Boston -- New England farmers have and will continue to benefit from the Conservation Security Program, reported Kathleen Merrigan, PhD, to the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in January. The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is the first comprehensive green payment system that pays farmers for good land stewardship. CSP is up for congressional reauthorization and possible reconfiguration in the 2007 farm bill. Merrigan's testimony sheds light on why CSP should be funded and how it can be fine-tuned to better meet farmers' needs.
"Green payments are the future of agricultural support and the CSP has succeeded in rewarding New England farmers for stewardship of working lands." Merrigan, director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment program and assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, presented results to the Senate Committee from a study that looked at the impact of the CSP on New England farmers.
"However, inadequate funding limited the eligibility of farms in New England to participate," said Merrigan. "As a result, New England received just 0.4 percent of contracts nationwide – a total of $234,068 in CSP payments or 0.15 percent of funds distributed by USDA in the fiscal year under study."
"New England farmers—and likely farmers nationwide—would benefit from acting on eight opportunities to strengthen CSP, a program that should remain central in our national conservation strategy." The eight opportunities outlined by Merrigan in her testimony are:
rewarding and motivating farmers by funding the CSP as intended
- removing caps to reduce the complexity and improve the transparency of the CSP
- increasing participation in the program by expanding technical assistance
- recognizing the limits of the soil conditioning index
- supporting small farms by establishing a base pay minimum
- creating a universal application to streamline the bureaucracy
- enhancing conservation by welcoming new practices
- lengthening the sign-up period to avoid conflict with farm responsibilities
"CSP was designed to 'reward the best and motivate the rest.' While eligibility requirements draw a bold line between "the best" and "the rest," the reality is that it is often difficult to make a clear distinction," comments Merrigan. "Certainly CSP participants are using advanced conservation practices. But some farms are deemed ineligible despite significant conservation practices. In some cases, this is due to program quirks."
"Many of the challenges I have identified with the program are a function of insufficient funding that has led to rules that deviate from the original statute and contorted bureaucratic efforts to distribute limited resources," concludes Merrigan. "However, there is an opportunity to increase CSP effectiveness through greater funding allocations, administrative adjustments, and statutory change." Merrigan urges the committee to "be optimistic about the future of the CSP, to undertake a renewed effort to strengthen the innovative program, and to provide it with full funding."
The Friedman School research team previously presented findings in a report entitled "The Conservation Security Program: Rewards and Challenges for New England Farmers." The report is based on eight case studies of real or hypothetical CSP contracts that represent typical New England farm types and crops, including dairy, cranberry, apple, and organic and conventional vegetable farms. Merrigan, and graduate students at the Friedman School, conducted the study in collaboration with the American Farmland Trust.
Merrigan was formerly the administrator of the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service and was the staff author of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which mandated national organic standards and a program of federal accreditation. For more information on the report, please see "A Look at the Conservation Security Program for the 2007 Farm Bill" in the March/April 2006 issue of Friedman Policy Points. [http://nutrition.tufts.edu/news/points/2006-03.html]
Merrigan KA. (January 17, 2006). "The Conservation Security Program: Insight and Recommendations Based on the New England Experience." Testimony before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: United States Senate. http://www.agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/hearings.cfm?hearingId=2471
Lundgren B, Biergiel J, Donovan M, Lee C, Merrigan K. (April 2006). "The Conservation Security Program: Rewards and Challenges for New England Farmers." Report from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Agriculture, Food and Environment Program, Tufts University, and American Farmland Trust.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, or speaking with a faculty member at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, or another Tufts health sciences researcher, please contact Siobhan Gallagher at 617-636-6586.
The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent school of nutrition in the United States. The school's eight centers, which focus on questions relating to famine, hunger, poverty, and communications, are renowned for the application of scientific research to national and international policy. For two decades, the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University has studied the relationship between good nutrition and good health in aging populations. Tufts research scientists work with federal agencies to establish the USDA Dietary Guidelines, the Dietary Reference Intakes, and other significant public policies.