▶ 0:08:40Will Chair Boozman: Good
▶ 0:09:11Will Chair Boozman: Afternoon and welcome. It is my privilege to call this hearing toward her. I would like to thank our it -- witnesses for taking time away from your families and work responsibilities to share their expertise with our committee today.
▶ 0:09:34Will Chair Boozman: When it comes to conservation farmers and ranchers are at the forefront of this effort because their livelihoods depend on the health and sustainability of their lands. American producers commitment to conservation while producing the food, fiber, and fueled our nation needs benefits all americans by providing clean water, clean air, healthy soil, and abundant wildlife habitat.
▶ 0:09:58Will Chair Boozman: Through the reauthorization of the farm bill congress can play a role supporting the commitment by improving the conservation programs implemented by usta and investing in these initiatives. The conservation needs of agriculture are diverse and unique to each producer and operation at we must ensure the farm bill supports a wide range of needs.
▶ 0:10:22Will Chair Boozman: Farm bill conservation programs are successful because they are locally led, voluntary, and incentive driven. This must continue in the next farm bill. We must not tie the hands of producers by requiring the implementation of certain conservation practices to be eligible for other incentives like crop insurance. The heavy-handed government does not know better than the individual producer regarding what resource concerns they need to address locally.
▶ 0:10:53Will Chair Boozman: Looking at the producers before us, we know the needs of rice producers in the arkansas delta aren't the same as what corn producers in need. The framework made commonsense improvements to the conservation programs in the farm bill by streamlining their implementation and moving more
▶ 0:11:24Will Chair Boozman: Decision-making to states and at the local level. The improvements will save time and money for producers and usda and it has supported the technical assistance producers need to help implement and design conservation on their operations and embrace innovation through precision agriculture and the support of new conservation practices.
▶ 0:11:47Will Chair Boozman: Finally, the framework also included the reinvestment of unspent inflation protection act funds into existing conservation programs to ensure producers have access to these programs for generations to come. Ranking member klobuchar has always been a strong champions of conservation programs at usda and I look forward to working together to pass a bipartisan farm bill this year.
▶ 0:12:17Will Chair Boozman: Our producers need not another one year extension of the 2018 farm bill. I am confident the testimony of our witnesses provide invaluable -- prove invaluable as we write the farm bill. Thank you again for your participation today. Senator klobuchar.
▶ 0:12:36Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you, Mr. chairman, for holding the hearing today and thank you to our witnesses that have come to share their perspectives. I have a lot of respect for them. I will, as we are working on this important to build up to what I hope will be a bipartisan farm bill, on the other side of the capitol, we have some cuts proposed to food assistance. Well near 300 billion dollars. That could make it very difficult to do a farm bill.
▶ 0:13:08Sen. Klobuchar: But, I continue to believe in the work of the committee. I hope we will find a way through this. I strongly support the work we have done together on improvement to conservation. Conservation programs and their many supporters are a critical part of the broad bipartisan coalition needed for a farm bill.
▶ 0:13:32Sen. Klobuchar: Usda's voluntary conservation programs are open to producers across the country, big and small operations, row crops, livestock, and especially crop farms. They assist farmers, ranchers, sportsmen, and many others to improve water quality, water health, and wildlife habitat.
▶ 0:13:55Sen. Klobuchar: I have long championed these programs and seeing how they can make farms more profitable and resilient while supporting the communities around them, wildlife, hunters, and fishers in my home state of minnesota. I have led efforts to improve conservation programs including with leader thune in the last farm bill to increase the number of acres in the conservation reserve program, and to create a pilot program to study innovative approaches to improve soil health.
▶ 0:14:26Sen. Klobuchar: I want to thank usda for reopening sign-up for crp without major changes to the parts focused on wildlife I have long championed and will continue to champion. I am looking forward to again joining with the majority later this week to introduce an updated version of the agriculture innovation act with the support of farmers and conservation groups. This is part of my commitment to ensure a strong conservation initiatives are in place.
▶ 0:14:56Sen. Klobuchar: Since the last farm bill, congress has made historic investments in voluntary conservation programs. Despite this investment, demand from farmers and conservationists continues to outpace available funding. It is my hope there will still be an opportunity to create increased long-term funding for the usda voluntary conservation programs in the farm bill baseline.
▶ 0:15:20Sen. Klobuchar: I'm concerned about the recent loss of 2400 employees from nrcsm nrcs, pauses in funding, cuts to technical assistance, and a troubling budget proposal pushing us in the wrong direction. Connecting farmers with voluntary conservation programs involves critical partnerships between usda, and it local conservation districts, wildlife organizations, states, and businesses.
▶ 0:15:46Sen. Klobuchar: These partnerships and nrcs staff in rural america are important for operating programs farmers rely on. Funding disruptions are, unfortunately, impacting these partners. Uncertainty has meant furloughs for many staff. I have heard from farmers across our state that they need certainty. The certainty of their usda experts and partner organizations like the ones here today. We are glad some funds are slowly being released and programs like crp reopened.
▶ 0:16:21Sen. Klobuchar: Of course, it needs to be a major part of any agreement for a future farm bill as we go forward. I look forward to hearing from all of you.
▶ 0:16:28Chair Boozman: Thank you. And now we will ask senator thune to introduce Mr. churchman.
▶ 0:16:38Sen. Thune: Let me say how much I appreciate you and senator klobuchar and the leadership roles you now have and I look forward to working with both of you and the leaders of the committee on a farm bill.
▶ 0:16:51Sen. Thune: There are a number of things in the conservation title we have worked on through the years and I hope the farm bill is an example of how this place can still work in a way that gets the best farm policies in place for our farmers and ranchers and makes sure are agriculture economy is set up for success in this country and able to prosper. I am very honored to today, Mr. chairman, to be able to introduce to this committee lynn tjeerdsma.
▶ 0:17:21Sen. Thune: He is from the small town of platte, south dakota where he runs his family farm. I have hunted pheasants at his place. He practices what he preaches. The conservation practices he employs on his farm are a great example of working lands conservation and how things ought to be done.
▶ 0:17:41Sen. Thune: Lynn first came to work for me in the senate in 2007 to help on the 2008 farm bill and then headed to the farm service agency at usda as assistant deputy administrator for farm programs. I asked him in 2011 to work with me on the next farm bill and he was also with me for the subsequent farm bill after that until his retirement in 2019. Now we have worked together on three farm bill's. He did not go far.
▶ 0:18:07Sen. Thune: He continues working on it conservation, most recently becoming a member of the national board of directors of pheasants forever and quail forever. South dakota's end of the nation's farmers and ranchers are better off today because of lynn's knowledge and contributions. There is not anybody I have worked with who is more passionate about agriculture in the country. And creating the right conditions for farmers, not only to thrive, but to prosper.
▶ 0:18:37Sen. Thune: I am happy he has once again been given the opportunity to share his perspective with this committee. I would say, as a somebody that has been working on these issues a long time, there are certain, as we know, policy matters that come before this committee that are somewhat complicated.
▶ 0:19:02Sen. Thune: Nobody can fully explain the dairy program or sugar program or many of the other programs, particularly, the countercyclical programs in title one. But lynn can do that. He is incredibly knowledgeable, passionate, and well versed and I always welcome his contributions to this farm bill good I am confident that your leadership we will get it done.
▶ 0:19:24Chair Boozman: We appreciate the majority leader being here. He's incredibly busy. He is one of our most active members. Senator hyde-smith will introduce Mr. blair.
▶ 0:19:38Sen. Hyde-Smith: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I'm proud to introduce my friend gary blair, a fellow mississippian. Mr. gary blair it says of starkville mississippi but we shared the town of brookhaven, mississippi a long while.
▶ 0:20:01Sen. Hyde-Smith: He serves as the national president of the association of conservation districts representing 3000 districts across 57 states and territories along with their associations in 17,000 locally elected or appointed governing board members. Conservation districts were first established in 1937 as it local units of government by state law originally partnering with the soil conservation service, which we know today as the national resources conservation service.
▶ 0:20:29Sen. Hyde-Smith: Gary is a 1981 graduate of mississippi state and recently retired after 36 years with southern agriculture credit and has served as president of the mississippi forestry association, the mississippi association of conservation districts, and the brookhaven chamber of commerce. He and his wife, jada, have a son, jonathan who followed in his father's footsteps as a mississippi state bulldog.
▶ 0:20:57Sen. Hyde-Smith: Thank you for representing our state so well. I look forward to a quick visit and your testimony today. --next, Mr. brad doyle eight soybean farmer from arkansas, a person passionate about trade, scientific crop research and crop breeding who operates eagle seed company with his son, and wife, joyce. Joyce is with us today.
▶ 0:21:25Sen. Hyde-Smith: Also an active member of the business. Eagle seed company specializes in developing soybeans, rice, wheat, cereal rye, and cover crops. He serves on the state board of director for the arkansas farm bureau and as president and chairman of the american soybean association. Thank you for being here. Mr.
▶ 0:21:54Sen. Hyde-Smith: Chad ellis is the chief executive office of texas agriculture land trust. He spent over 25 years implementing stewardship focused management with producers and also in his own operation in texas thaad is the past chair of the round for sustainable beef ecosystem service, market consortium and trust in food and beef program.
▶ 0:22:25Sen. Hyde-Smith: He earned a degree in wildlife management and a graduate degree in animal science. Again, thank you for being here. Senator durbin will introduce Mrs. wire -- dwyer.
▶ 0:22:47Sen. Durbin: This hearing has brought wonderful talent and resources to the committee room this afternoon. One of them is my special guest Mrs. megan dwyer of cole valley, illinois, a fourth generation farmer, megan with her husband, todd run crop and livestock operations with their families in the cole valley.
▶ 0:23:11Sen. Durbin: Megan serves as director of conservation and nutrient stewardship for the illinois corn growers and her expertise in conservation makes her an especially valuable witness today. In addition to her farming and conservation background, megan is a mother of four. I am happy to see she is joined by haley, one of her daughters, who is in the fourth grade. She will be in the fifth grade next year.
▶ 0:23:39Sen. Durbin: She is sharing her expertise with the committee just like she shared with many others on farm conservation practices. I want to close by making a book recommendation. On the topic of conservation. Probably the most eye-opening experience in modern american history was the great dust bowl. We have seen pictures. We have heard about it. We have our appreciation of it.
▶ 0:24:08Sen. Durbin: There is a book entitled "the worst hard time" and the author is tim egan. It's amazing. It tells the story in more detail and it is more graphic than anything else I have read on the south -- subject. I thank you, Mr. chairman, for the hearing and megan and haley for joining us today.
▶ 0:24:26Chair Boozman: Thank you, senator durbin. Mr. blair, now you are recognized for your statement.
▶ 0:24:31Mr. Blair: I want to first thank my U.S. senator cindy hyde-smith, chairman bozeman, ranking member klobuchar, and members of the committee. Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
▶ 0:24:45Mr. Blair: With approximately 60% of our nation lands in private ownership, our ability to achieve landscape to scale conservation bills relies on the voluntary cooperation of millions of farmers, ranchers, and pharma stewards that manage these lands every day. Our nation's farmers and ranchers are land stewards at heart. They want to leave the land better than they found it. But they can't do that alone.
▶ 0:25:12Mr. Blair: They need timely, high-quality, technical assistance and conservation programs like equipped and csp to keep their land healthy and productive. Approximately 39% of our lands are farmlands. 88% of our farmers are small to medium-sized operations. Most have secondary sources of income. So they can sustain their passion for working the lands. About 30% of these are new and beginning farmers.
▶ 0:25:40Mr. Blair: I cannot overstate the level of expertise and capacity needed to serve our nations land owners and operators. Technical assistance is the foundation of our conservation delivery system. Cultivating relationships drives successful outcomes. Conservation is not just a transaction. It's a journey. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
▶ 0:26:08Mr. Blair: We help ensure conservation plans are tailored to address producers' unique environmental challenges as well as economic realities. During president trumps previous administration secretary perdue assessed the nrcs' conservation workload, producer needs, and it drive times to visit nrcs in conservation district offices where we are often co-located and identified the optimal office locations and approved
▶ 0:26:39Mr. Blair: 11,000 employee staff at nrcs. Nacd is supportive of the approach and optimizing the staffing adoptive -- offices, but we are concerned about the reported separation of almost 20 400 nrcs employees and in the potential return to fy 2020 onboard staffing levels.
▶ 0:27:02Mr. Blair: It has been in a city -- nacd's position that staffing levels were insufficient to meet producer needs. Today at nrcs has even a higher workload associated with the administration of the ira funds. Nacd supports the effort to streamline government and a steward of taxpayer dollars.
▶ 0:27:26Mr. Blair: We are pleased with chief aubrey bettencourt's leadership and collaboration on conservation workforce needs. Through our national and local partnership, conservation districts, their state associations, the state agencies, are standing by to support nrcs by contributing their expertise and financial resources to ensure we collectively meet producer needs across the country. Demand for conservation is high.
▶ 0:27:58Mr. Blair: Farm bill programs have been constantly oversubscribed. Fy2024 nrcs funded 85% more equipped csp s applications only 43% of the 8.7 billion requested by producers. Because of nacd'usda because of nacd'uss top priority to ensure ira funds are integrated into the farm bill program.
▶ 0:28:27Mr. Blair: Giving funding to producers to implement conservation practices remains mutual priority. Particularly, given current economic challenges. We know secretary rollins understands this and we were pleased to see usda, to honor the existing contracts, and expedited the release of payments. Nacd hopes to see the paws on new obligations lifted. Particularly, for the new ira funded contracts with the producers.
▶ 0:28:58Mr. Blair: American farmers, ranchers, and forest stewards are ready and eager to participate in conservation programs. They simply need certainty and tools to get it done. My -- maintaining strong investment in farm bill conservation programs, technical assistance, and supporting an efficient and scaled conservation workforce and ensuring local presence and -- in communities across the country allows us to fulfill our mutual commitment to delivering
▶ 0:29:29Mr. Blair: Results for producers, taxpayers, and the land. Thank you for your time today. Continued -- and continued support of locally led conservation.
▶ 0:29:45Mr. Doyle: It's an honor to be here this afternoon on behalf of arkansas farm bureau and its 180,000 members. I'm incredibly proud of chairman boozman and his leadership. Mr. chairman, thank you for all you do for arkansas producers. And american agriculture. My name is brad doyle. I'm a third-generation farmer in poinsett county, arkansas.
▶ 0:30:10Mr. Doyle: Along with my wife, joyce, and son, cody we farm rice, soybeans, and wheat. Our family business has been farming the land for over 100 years and we run a seed business. A seed production resource that provides soybean, rice, corn, and wheat seed to farmers across the U.S. and canada. The united states is home to the most affordable, reliable, and abundant food supply in the world. Many of your constituents dedicate their lives to the land.
▶ 0:30:41Mr. Doyle: Providing the knowledge, labor, and financial investment necessary for the united states to remain a world leader in food and fiber production. In recognition of the risk and responsibility placed on american farmers, congress has invested in agriculture for over 90 years. The first farms programs created by congress were a direct response to the dustbowl and great depression. During another period of true crisis for production agriculture was the mid-1980's.
▶ 0:31:13Mr. Doyle: Congress passed the first unified farm bill that combined land retirement conservation programs with crop insurance and commodity support programs. American row crop farmers are facing another historic breaking point. As the committee has heard, over the past several months, the current state of U.S. agricultural economy reveals a widening and unsustainable gap between the prices farmers are paid for their products and the prices that they must pay to produce them.
▶ 0:31:42Mr. Doyle: Crop farmers like myself have been hit especially hard. According to usda's farm sector income forecast, inflation adjustment crop cash receipts have declined since 2022 by $67 billion, 22%. Input costs for essentials like seed, chemicals, repairs, and taxes remain at near record levels.
▶ 0:32:07Mr. Doyle: Farmers today are caught between collapse commodity pricing and stubbornly high production prices. Despite recent improvements in risk management tools like crop insurance and ad hoc government assistance, the disparity between prices reveals received and prices paid has widened dramatically threatening the financial viability of farms across the nation.
▶ 0:32:30Mr. Doyle: Unless structural changes are enacted through a modernized farm bill that provides commodity support that reflects the cost of production and enhanced risk management tools, meaningful investment in trade, and to strengthen conservation support, the united states risks irreversible damage to ants -- it's agricultural foundation.
▶ 0:32:55Mr. Doyle: The title of today's hearing provides financial and technical support for farmers and ranchers that voluntarily implement conservation practices. In 1985 my father-in-law saw a need to build the first reservoir on our family farm. He took 100 acres out of production. Fast-forward to 2019. A correction in the record book. It should be 2019, not 2000, as stated.
▶ 0:33:21Mr. Doyle: Our family started plans to apply for a new quick funded project to build a second reservoir on the opposite end of the farm to help with the irrigation pumping capacity while capturing rainwater in our area to lessen the water burden on our aquifers we rely on for irrigation. I remind you, I am in poinsett county, the number one rice producing county in america.
▶ 0:33:48Mr. Doyle: The irrigation timing and management of excess water on a flat rice and soybean farm are critical to crop production. We get great response from irrigation. The project we started was completed in 2023. A follow-up cover crop plant was initiated through 2024.
▶ 0:34:09Mr. Doyle: With limited funds available it is critically important to formulate a plan, get on the waiting list, and follow the detailed criteria to follow the local nrcs support and fund such a large project. The demand for these programs consistently outpaces available funding, leading to a need for more robust support in future farm bill's. In the 2018 farm bill, conservation programs accounted for only 7% of the total farm bill spending.
▶ 0:34:40Mr. Doyle: As congress works to develop the next farm bill, the inclusion of additional funds, namely, those allocated to agriculture, conservation, and the inflation reduction act would allow more producers to implement conservation practices ensuring healthy farmland for generations to come. With that, I will end my statement. Thank you for having me here today.
▶ 0:35:00Chair Boozman: Thank you. Mr. lynn tjeerdsma.
▶ 0:35:06Mr. Tjeerdsma: German bozeman, ranking member klobuchar and senator thune, I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I also appreciate senator thune, the opportunity you gave me for 11 years of working with you on conservation programs and other programs. And I would like to say, the pheasants on my farm don't look forward to your return. He is an excellent shot. I have experienced that myself.
▶ 0:35:37Mr. Tjeerdsma: He is a real sportsman and a pleasure to hunt with and passionate about conservation programs, as are many of the members of this committee that I have worked with and members of this staff that I have worked with over the years on farm bill's. I am a farmer, a rancher, and a retired public servant. I currently serve on the board of directors of a pheasants forever and quail forever and it is a privilege to testify here today on behalf of the members, partners, and the farming and ranching community.
▶ 0:36:06Mr. Tjeerdsma: Here are some numbers about pheasants forever and how important they are, quail forever. Conservation. 490,000 members, supporters, and partners, 750 local chapters making up the nation's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation.
▶ 0:36:25Mr. Tjeerdsma: Since 1982, pf and qf invested more than a billion dollars in 580 habitat projects benefiting 28.8 million acres. That is our impact and why we need the conservation titles as this can continue. We partner with thousands of private land owners, and federal partners that usda.
▶ 0:36:54Mr. Tjeerdsma: Each year more than 480 pf and qf wildlife biologist and conservation professionals help implement conservation practices on their farms. I know this from personal experience.
▶ 0:37:12Mr. Tjeerdsma: The voluntary incentive-based locally led conservation programs in the farm bill on my farm have protected the fragile acres, improved soil health, reduced erosion, and provided ample wildlife habitat. Resulting in sporting opportunities for me, my son, my grandsons, and friends.
▶ 0:37:33Mr. Tjeerdsma: The technical assistance I have received thanks to the farm bill and pf and qf biologists has been invaluable in selecting the best practices and achieving by farming operation's goals. The farm bill is a critical, practical conservation policy tool that benefits producers, rural communities, and the hunting and outdoor recreation economy.
▶ 0:37:56Mr. Tjeerdsma: I would like to say, in my home state of south dakota, pheasant hunting alone provides in 2023 281 million dollars to the state economy. Over a quarter of a billion dollars just from pheasant hunting alone. The pheasants are there because of the conservation title in the farm bill.
▶ 0:38:15Mr. Tjeerdsma: This is why we need to pass a five-year farm bill with strong investment in conservation practices and technical assistance to meet oversubscribed farmer and rancher demand, incorporating unspent inflation reduction act funding into the conservation title baseline is a necessary move with bipartisan support in congress.
▶ 0:38:37Mr. Tjeerdsma: We also need to shore up and improve the conservation reserve program, one of the most essential farm bill programs for american soil, water, and wildlife producers. When I first left the farm in 1985, as the ced county executive director in moody county, south dakota, we implemented the first farm bill authorized in the first to program authorized in the 1985 farm bill.
▶ 0:39:04Mr. Tjeerdsma: To see the program expand to what it is now and what it has done is another reason I am here and saying how important the conservation title is. The crt improvement act, led by majority leader thune, ranking member klobuchar, addresses many needs we see now in the conservation reserve program.
▶ 0:39:26Mr. Tjeerdsma: Another key program, the voluntary public access program, supports america's hunting, heritage, and boosts rural recreation economies. Senator bennet, senator daines, and senator marshall introduced the dpa improvement act to maximize the program's economic benefits.
▶ 0:39:46Mr. Tjeerdsma: Among other priorities, outlined in my testimony, we support fully funding equipped, the environmental quality assistance program the bill will enable usda comply --
▶ 0:40:17Mr. Tjeerdsma: Compile the farm great insights to growers on conservation benefits. In closing, thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today and for your consideration of these priorities. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:40:29Chair Boozman: Mr. ellis.
▶ 0:40:31Mr. Ellis: Good afternoon chairman boozman and members of the committee. I am chad at us executive officer of the texas agricultural land trust and vice president of the partnership of rangeland trust.
▶ 0:40:55Mr. Ellis: Talt was developed by our three major grassroots led -- land order led organizations. The leadership of these organizations was forward thinking and realized they need a trusted source to keep our working lands working and providing tools for land stewards for their heritage and legacy in providing food and economic stability for their
▶ 0:41:25Mr. Ellis: Communities and I'm happy today to share with you that we have helped empower over 70 families and over 300,000 acres across texas. But I wish I was here to provide good news. But I'm here to share instead of the reality of what faces our land stewards across texas in this nation. In the last five years we have seen over 18,000 farms and ranches lost in texas.
▶ 0:41:56Mr. Ellis: We are seeing an increase of 1200-1400 people moving to our state daily. Point 5 million people per year. This nexus is driving issues for us as land producers. How do we stay in business?
▶ 0:42:13Mr. Ellis: Texas a&m's research and the texas land trends, basically, at 2007-2012 showing we lose 49 acres per day. As I look at my watch, as I have been sitting here with this great group, we have lost another 49 acres in texas. We are losing over 1000 acres per day in texas. Of our working land.
▶ 0:42:41Mr. Ellis: They are being basically converted into the last crop. The crop of concrete. At talt we help landowners protect legacies through voluntary conservation easements, tools only possible because of the farm bill programs. Agricultural conservation easement program, the regional conservation partnership program which combines federal, private, and state funding to make conservation financially viable.
▶ 0:43:10Mr. Ellis: These are not just conservation programs. These are national security programs. They enter future generations of americans have access to healthy food, clean water, open space. They keep private, working lands productive and in the hands of the people that know them the best. As my fellow ranchers, farmers, and private foresters.
▶ 0:43:32Mr. Ellis: As congress works to reauthorize the farm bill, we urge you to maintain a robust funding for our acep, programs and so landowners can protect their land and keep it in production. The demand is seen at a demand we have never seen before.
▶ 0:43:53Mr. Ellis: We ask you to eliminate the adjusted gross income limitations from acep ale because it's not a subsidy, but a payment, but a convenient conveyance of a private, real property and we ask you to look at exempt conservation easement program payments from future agi , reduce administrative burdens which delay the project and limitation,g and to discourage
▶ 0:44:23Mr. Ellis: Participation. One viable tool is through certified entities recognizing exceptional land trusts and delegating authorities to these entities. Lastly, to support flexibility in denise program -- in these programs' designed to effectively deliver their tools.
▶ 0:44:46Mr. Ellis: In texas, in a years time, we lose over 370 acres -- 370 thousand acres, equivalent over 8.5 washington, D.C.s. If we were able to attain rainfall on those lands it would feel approximately -- fill approximately 180 billion water bottles. Lyndon b. Johnson stated it best.
▶ 0:45:18Mr. Ellis: Soil and water conservation starts where the first raindrop falls. That is on a farmer, rancher, a private forester. No land, no water, no future for our future agriculturelists like we have behind us. We must keep our working lands working at providing for all americans. Thank you and god bless.
▶ 0:45:42Mrs. Dwyer: Good afternoon. It is an honor to be here today and a greater honor to represent midwest farmers. Some might call it multitasking, but I wear several hats. Fourth-generation farmer, certified crop advisor, agricultural professional, and mom. Our family farm go -- grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and beef cattle and we are raising the fifth generation. Our oldest daughter is here with me today. We are here to discuss conservation. Something I devoted my professional career two.
▶ 0:46:13Mrs. Dwyer: As the director of conservation and nutrient stewardship for illinois corn I strive to ensure policies and regulatory efforts are grounded in science and common sense to bridge the gap between farm fields and policy and make the complexities of conservation feel as relatable as breaking -- baking chocolate chip cookies. For decades we focused on protecting our most vulnerable soils. I'm here to ask us to consider how programs can better protect our most productive soil. When you hear illinois you think of chicago.
▶ 0:46:44Mrs. Dwyer: About 70% of illinois farmlands, 24 million acres of cropland about the size of one third of all U.S. cities combined, our farm fields are a powerhouse of productivity. When it comes to federal conservation funding we only receive a fraction. 2018-20 received 1.3% of eqap funding.
▶ 0:47:09Mrs. Dwyer: In 2024 only 6.4 illinois received supportive cropland conservation thanks to strong collaboration with senator durbin's office. The illinois corn growers association and department of agriculture were able to secure an additional $15 million of traditional funds to address conservation priorities more than doubling the state cropland budget enabling target efforts to protect topsoil.
▶ 0:47:38Mrs. Dwyer: The funds were contracted and highlighted competition for conservation funding. Meaningful progress requires financial investment and securing sufficient funding to support a state like illinois with its 24 million acres of farmland takes a creative approach. One way to sustain momentum is incorporating ira conservation funds into the farm bill baseline.
▶ 0:48:03Mrs. Dwyer: If we fail to deliver modernized, effective fund -- programs, technical assistance, and meaningful funding to farmers we can expect more outcomes like the dust storms in central illinois that closed major interstate can cause loss of life. Our approach can make a difference. Too often we zero in on one granular issue or promote a solution without considering the broader path to success. Now for the cookies. If I asked each of you to describe the perfect cookie, I would get 23 answers.
▶ 0:48:33Mrs. Dwyer: A somewhat say thin and cr ispy or soft and chewy. It is the challenge farmers face implement and conservation. Even if I gave you the same recipe, I would get different results because no two ovens bake the same like notice coke farm fields respond the same way.
▶ 0:48:57Mrs. Dwyer: Successful conservation requires a strong partnership, reliable funding, trusted expertise, and flexibility. Accessible field offices for nrcs and well staffed agencies like epa and U.S. fish and wildlife in your boots on the ground and every tool in that conservation toolbox. Public and private partnerships amplify the effects. A strong safety net and technical assistance drive real adoption.
▶ 0:49:22Mrs. Dwyer: The barriers range from financial constraints, technical assistance, machinery time, and the fact that over 70% of illinois farmland is owned by somebody other than the farm family tenant. I prefer to focus on solutions. Providing support that made illinois corn's flagship initiative position conservation management possible.
▶ 0:49:44Mrs. Dwyer: Pcm has proven we can exceed the success of traditional conservation efforts by leveraging strategic public-private partnership, providing boots on the ground, and allowing flexibility in implementation for the long-standing partnership with pepsico is an example of leveraging public and private conservation -- contribution generating $1.50 for farmers for every federal dollar invested. We must design an entirely new approaches that recognize the uniqueness of each acre and meet farmers where they are at.
▶ 0:50:14Mrs. Dwyer: We must reevaluate practice standards and decide if close enough is acceptable to achieve greater scalability or if the pursuit event -- perfection will limit progress. We must consider help federal crop insurance will be supported by covering the transition to new practices and offering flexibility for innovative approaches like growing cover crops ahead of cash crops. Baby boomers owned the majority of farmland across the U.S.. In the next decade their average age will reach 80.
▶ 0:50:43Mrs. Dwyer: We are on the age of a generational cliff. Without robust programs to help the next generation not only access farmland, but be economically equipped to adopt conservation practices we risk losing our position as a global leader in production agriculture.
▶ 0:50:58Chair Boozman: Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today. Now we begin with one round of five-minute minute questions per member. It is good to see mike conaway here, the former chair of house agriculture. We have two former chair as you worked with staring down at you as they do with me every year.
▶ 0:51:27Chair Boozman: For all the witnesses, anybody that wants to speak up, can you talk about why the locally led model of conservation delivery supported by nrcs, where decisions are left to the individual producer has been so successful with how we can get more decision-making to the state and local level?
▶ 0:51:54Mr. Doyle: As mentioned in many of our speeches already, we are so different. Every farm is different. Even within a farm, we have so much variability in soil topography, the way fields drain. I think it is up to our local nrcs engineers and technicians to help farmers create and find solutions which work for the individual farm.
▶ 0:52:22Mr. Doyle: Not every field will be handled differently. So, I think that individual look at projects going forward, one-size-fits-all is not the way to go. The way that it is now is working for us. Our close involvement at the local level, we can go up there and speak to them in person. That's extremely important for all of us.
▶ 0:52:45Chair Boozman: Anybody else?
▶ 0:52:49Mr. Tjeerdsma: Based on my personal experience with nrcs and with wildlife biologists that partner with pheasants forever and quail forever that partner with usda, the programs are so complex, and farming has gotten so much more complex that it was when I started farming in 1972. Technical assistance is desperately needed.
▶ 0:53:15Mr. Tjeerdsma: When you look at the cadre of conservation programs, from crp to acep two different ones and in the fish and wildlife service was mentioned as well, if we don't have the technical assistance available to us now, I think these programs will go by the wayside, simply because farmers and ranchers won't be utilizing them.
▶ 0:53:42Mr. Tjeerdsma: I cannot emphasize enough in the farm bill based on my personal experience how even though we realize we are in an atmosphere of budget cuts and needing to streamline and having spent a big part of my career at fsa, I understand how important that is, but there has to be priorities and technical assistance is one of those priorities and also partnering with the wildlife biologist, pheasants forever, quail forever, they come to the farm. They worked closely with the farmer.
▶ 0:54:13Mr. Tjeerdsma: Strictly, voluntarily, the farmer can say I want to do this, this command this. That is what I did. I set up a conservation plan. Thank you for the question. Very important.
▶ 0:54:21Chair Boozman: Thank you.
▶ 0:54:26Mr. Blair: I would like to speak on behalf of conservation districts housed within our local usda service centers. We work with them every day. We aren't costing the federal government anything. The work is being done by the local conservation district employees. Some of them are technicians. Some of them are more administrative. But we are their day-to-day working hand in hand with the nrcs.
▶ 0:54:53Mr. Blair: We are tied, on the nrcs side, two dollars for engineering. It is harder and harder to find qualified engineers that are willing to come to work for nrcs on the pay scale being provided by the U.S. government.
▶ 0:55:09Chair Boozman: Mrs. dwyer.
▶ 0:55:12Mrs. Dwyer: Looking at capacity, we need a staff that have the capacity to serve the number of farmers in their area and more importantly, a trusted relationship. So a farmer wants to know the people they are working with not only understand resource concerns of their local area, but truly want to see them succeed and understand their concerns. You can't have that when you have a technical assistance that is 50, 100 miles away or just a few in one state.
▶ 0:55:38Chair Boozman: Very good. Mr. doyle, in your testimony you mentioned a reservoir recently completed on your farm that utilized eqip to complete the project. Tell us more about your experience working with nrcs and how important getting eqip funding was to the financial viability of the project.
▶ 0:55:58Mr. Doyle: There is very limited funding available. It's like a waiting line. In my county alone there is about 2000 acres of reservoir. We water every crop we grow in our county. We started the planning and application process pre-covid, around 2019 but we went in and talked to the technicians. We developed a plan. What is it the best place to put it on the farm?
▶ 0:56:29Mr. Doyle: The 45 acres will never be farmed again. We took it out of production long-term. It will ensure we have the available water in the future. Whatever crop we grow. It's very important to us. The process was easy and local. My county office is within 15 miles of the farm. The accessibility to the technicians, the planners, the agents in the office was tremendous. We have a great staff in poinsett county.
▶ 0:57:00Mr. Doyle: The follow-through was a slow due to covid. Are there were issues on supplying the pipe, the dirt work. Dirt work expenses and fuel cost alone went up tremendously. The funding for those projects does not go as far as it once did. We wrapped up the project. We finally turned to the pumps on last year. We followed that up with a cover crop plan to ensure the erosion was reduced on the farm it. And all of the soil health plan was in place.
▶ 0:57:31Mr. Doyle: Because, hopefully, it will be there for the next generation or two on our farming operation. It also helps our neighbors. Because we aren't removing as much groundwater as we once did.
▶ 0:57:43Chair Boozman: Senator klobuchar.
▶ 0:57:47Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I mentioned peter soon -- leader thune and I are continuing our efforts to make improvements this year in making sure the usda offers the program and prioritizes habitat to provide access to grazing, provide more enrollment options for producers and create certainty for state acres for wildlife enhancement practice. Mr.
▶ 0:58:17Sen. Klobuchar: Tjeerdsma I enjoyed our meeting earlier today. I know you have personal experience with a crp on your own farm. Can you explain how crp can help both eight farmer's bottom line and support the wildlife and explain the importance of technical assistance from usda or pheasants forever?
▶ 0:58:39Mr. Tjeerdsma: Thank you for the question, ranking member klobuchar. I cannot say enough, as I mentioned before about how important technical assistance is. I will answer that question first. Because without it, we can't get the practices on the ground. As far as the conservation reserve program, in chairman, Mr.
▶ 0:59:06Mr. Tjeerdsma: Chairman bozeman, I know how passionate you are about the commodity title and making sure we have the consent there is an economic assistance in the next farm bill for farmers, but I also want to point out how the conservation title offers a safety net for farmers on my own form. -- farmers. On my own farm, I have taken the worst, poorest ground. Five feet of black loam soil.
▶ 0:59:36Mr. Tjeerdsma: We have a very good soil. And very poor soil. I can take the poor ground. I have done this over the years I have farmed. I can put the ground and roll the ground in crp. Just the past year one piece of ground I rolled right put a 16 acres into crp.
▶ 0:59:58Mr. Tjeerdsma: That raised the average is soybean yield on the ground by at least 10 bushels per acre and plus I got a crp payment for the 16 acres I placed their. It is important when we look at the safety net for agriculture, we look at the crp program and others.
▶ 1:00:18Mr. Tjeerdsma: How we can take some of this land and, with the equipment we have now, 10 point -- I mean, I can look at a map coming off the combine and see where the most productive ground is. I can target the ground and say, this is not paying the bill. This is not paying for the input on putting on it. With that I want to say, personally, I know how important the programs are. How we can pinpoint, help we can target.
▶ 1:00:45Mr. Tjeerdsma: At crp it is no longer considered -- we put the whole landscape in, the whole farm. We need to start thinking about how it can be effectively used as a pinpoint tool to help operations get a better bottom line. Thank you.
▶ 1:01:07Sen. Klobuchar: I mentioned the other bill senator thune and I have. Can you quickly talk about how improved use of data that the usda collects strengthens agricultural research? Just in 30 seconds.
▶ 1:01:25Mr. Tjeerdsma: Thank you for that question. The agricultural data field is really important to me having spent more than half my career at ssa end and knowing the wealth of information I have also been involved extensively with nrcs and crop insurance and knowing there is so much information do information dthe usda gathers. I use cover crops on my farm. There are so many planting options when you put in a cover crop as far as the seed you can use.
▶ 1:01:57Mr. Tjeerdsma: There are also different planting methods. I have flown by soybeans in with an airplane, drilled it in after harvest. It's a guessing game as to what works best. If we had ag data where the usda could collect the data and I could look at what they come up with and say this will work better on my land, in this area. That is just one example of how it could work.
▶ 1:02:25Sen. Klobuchar: Mrs. dwyer I mentioned wide ranging workforce reductions currently going on at nrcs and fsa and the proposed elimination of conservation technical assistance. In minnesota, nrcs has lost 40 employees between january and march. That was before the projected next round of staffing cuts nationally, 2400 at any -- nrcs, 1100 fsa.
▶ 1:02:57Sen. Klobuchar: How will fewer staff impacts the workers farmers do?
▶ 1:03:00Mrs. Dwyer: Great question. It comes down to relationships. As well as the knowledge and expertise in these areas. To your specific question, it's a little too soon for us to see the full impact.
▶ 1:03:14Mrs. Dwyer: We know for sure if we expect less staff in these offices with the archaic id systems they are using we will see long lines, delays in enrollment, struggles and frustrations with farmers showing up looking for service and assistance. I think it's an opportunity where partnerships can come in. I am a certified crop advisor.
▶ 1:03:39Mrs. Dwyer: I have taken advantage of the recent mou between nrcs and the cca to allows office is already struggling to provide enough ta to farmers.
▶ 1:03:56Sen. Ernst: Thank you to our panel of witnesses for being here today. We appreciate your testimony and willingness to visit with us about the importance of conservation. I have the privilege of traveling all across iowa. I don't even have to travel river to river. I get it at home all the time. I come from a farm family. My husbands a farmer.
▶ 1:04:27Sen. Ernst: My dental hygienist the other day gave me the lowdown. Her husband is a beginning farmer the next community up. I hear a lot. This has been a big topic. We really need the farm bill done. They want to know that title does go conservation will be completed. We are talking about improving soil health and water quality. And at the long-term productivity, which some of you have addressed already.
▶ 1:04:57Sen. Ernst: They face a lot of barriers with the rigid usda standards. It really slows things down. I reintroduced my streamlining conservation practice c1 that will serve as a guide for many of the title ii farm programs.
▶ 1:05:20Sen. Ernst: The bill would update the agency's process to require a regular review of existing conservation standard. It would create a public process for adopting new practices and it would your ties the integration of innovative tools like nutrient efficient technologies, biological fertilizer is proven to improve plant growth.
▶ 1:05:52Sen. Ernst: Ultimately, the goal is simple. Let's cut the red take, keep standard, science-based, and flexible and help farmers get conservation tools in use faster. I'm really thankful that I have colleagues like senators durbin, marshall, and heinrich who have also joined me in this effort as well. It is a good, bipartisan product. Mrs.
▶ 1:06:18Sen. Ernst: Dwyer, you work at the intersection of production agriculture and innovation as a farmer and with the illinois corn growers. Can you maybe talk a little bit about the delays in updating practice standards. Do these create a barrier for innovation particularly with regard to nutrient management and soil health?
▶ 1:06:46Sen. Ernst: >> thank you, I love this question. They are going outside of illinois to look at what those mean. It is first and foremost how we can get the boots on the ground and nation whether it is through private programs and actually utilize that data. We know that data drives decision making.
▶ 1:07:16Sen. Ernst: Farmers are natural innovators. They will adopt technology that will outpace what we see. Understanding how we can be more innovative and flexible is important to scale to meet the goals of the nutrient loss reduction strategy.
▶ 1:07:38Sen. Ernst: I love it. I appreciate your input and advocacy. Mr. blair, conservation districts are often at the front line. We have heard a little bit about that, but how could increased transparency and public engagement in the conservation practice standard process improve trust and effectiveness at a local level?
▶ 1:08:03Mr. Blair: Trust is key I think in all of what we do and making sure that the farmers and ranchers understand they can trust not only the local conservation district but the nrcs employees and making sure the productivity of their soils are maximized in order to increase the amount of income they can reap off their farms. It is very key, it is a very important part of what we are doing.
▶ 1:08:33Mr. Blair: I look forward to learning more about your programs and getting those implemented.
▶ 1:08:37Sen. Ernst: Wonderful. In closing, I think trust is a big part of this. We have all of these young men and women or men and women my age even out working across these offices and you come from communities like ours, we are all intertwined, we all know each other. We trust that they will do the best for our family farms and future generations. Thank you, Mr. chair.
▶ 1:09:06Chair Boozman: Thank you. >> thank you for this important hearing, thank you for being here. Mr. ellis, I have a question for you. As I think you probably know in colorado conservation protects a huge amount of land.
▶ 1:09:23Chair Boozman: We have 3 million acres of critical habitats, after cultural lands, and scenic landscapes, but current valuation methods often emphasize lost development potential failing to account for the ecological wildlife, water already, and landscape connectivity that these lands provide.
▶ 1:09:43Chair Boozman: I've heard from producers all over my state that we need a more accurate and practical and modern approach to these valuations that truly takes into account the long-term benefits of conserved agricultural land. I'm sure you had the benefit of thinking about this over the years. I'm curious about your recommendation to ensure fair land assessments and support effective long-term conservation.
▶ 1:10:12Mr. Ellis: Thank you, senator bennet. It is about conserving ecological systems. That includes raising and growing food and fiber.
▶ 1:10:37Mr. Ellis: We should have a valuation system that is valuing conservation, not the elimination of development. When you look at it today, our conservation easements do limit development, they should not be seen as an anti-development tool, they should be seen as a conservation tool.
▶ 1:11:02Mr. Ellis: One of the things we must be careful with is we think about not incentivizing speculative markets over farms and ranch families. I think it is about stacking value.
▶ 1:11:33Mr. Ellis: You looked to conservation easements on groundwater. We think about helping empower them and we stack a traditional conservation on a land surface type easement and then we start adding that extra value.
▶ 1:11:58Mr. Ellis: This can also layer in especially one from the buyer side. If that producer has a conservation easement, that will be there.
▶ 1:12:21Sen. Bennet: Thank you for acknowledging that groundwater easement project. It came from producers in colorado. They understand we are dealing with a fragile ecosystem here. We need to make sure that development isn't necessarily always the answer. And preserving these watersheds often is. I have one more quick question for Mr. blair.
▶ 1:12:53Sen. Bennet: Colorado farmers and ranchers are up against a lot. Less water to work with, tough soils eroding. While federal programs can help provide support. We are stretched too thin.
▶ 1:13:27Sen. Bennet: I wonder how nrcs can help farmers access site-specific conservation planning? >> colorado is one of my favorite states to spend some time in.
▶ 1:13:51Sen. Bennet: Come back anytime.
▶ 1:13:53Mr. Blair: Technical assistance is important. The work we do with technical service providers. They help implement these programs let's work with our technical service providers. Those are people with contract workers that were canned in hand.
▶ 1:14:30Mr. Blair: The ways to get the call -- the technical support to the producers. >> my question is also for Mr. blair. The conservation stewardship program, csp, and the environmental quality incentives program are very popular in mississippi.
▶ 1:14:51Mr. Blair: One of the many benefits of these important working lands program is they allow private land to remain in production while farmers and ranchers implement various conservation practices. These programs are a win-win. Farmers are increasing productivity.
▶ 1:15:17Mr. Blair: A major chained shifted it from a program limited by acres or annual enrollment to a program limited by total annual funding. It has had a big impact on limiting future csp enrollment.
▶ 1:15:43Mr. Blair: Do you think congress should invest in popular csp and eqip programs? What have you heard from farmers who have yet to be approved?
▶ 1:15:56Mr. Blair: Definitely that is two important programs to the mississippi delta and mississippi in general. We are not at times receiving enough funding for csp or eqip across the nation. They are very important to continue to fund those. I know in mississippi we have a great state conservationist it will take money from any other state that doesn't want to utilize their money.
▶ 1:16:26Mr. Blair: I'm hearing the same thing they are both very vital programs and important programs. Allowing farmers and producers to receive the benefits. Thank you.
▶ 1:16:55Sen. Hyde-Smith: Thank you and conservation districts have been key partners in the maintenance of flood control infrastructure through infrastructure programs. This important program has been utilized in mississippi to help reduce flood erosion and sedimentation damage and various watersheds.
▶ 1:17:18Sen. Hyde-Smith: As you highlighted in your testimony, maintaining this infrastructure is essential to protect our citizens, communities, small businesses, and producers. What are you hearing from your members in mississippi about the need to construct and maintain critical water infrastructure and how can congress better support that work?
▶ 1:17:36Mr. Blair: Thank you again for that question, senator. Our watershed program is very key. I have a watershed lake on my property.
▶ 1:17:55Mr. Blair: We have a number of our watersheds funding for watersheds. It has grown underneath these watersheds.
▶ 1:18:19Mr. Blair: We have already had down payers we need to get that levy rebuilt . Any action you can take to help us with that, we would greatly appreciate.
▶ 1:18:45Sen. Hyde-Smith: My last question is for Mr. tjeerdsma. You discussed the easement program and the long-term certainty provides landowners. In my state, wetland easements are widely used in the mississippi delta where several counties are seeing near record enrollment. These easements play a key role in protecting critical wildlife habitats while creating long-term recreational and economic value for mississippians.
▶ 1:19:14Sen. Hyde-Smith: In the next farm bill, how can congress reduce regulatory burdens in the wetland reserve easement program to enable to enroll more landowners and build on its successes.
▶ 1:19:28Mr. Tjeerdsma: I think a senator ernst talked about with regard to the bill she and others introduced, I have an -- spent half my career at usda farm service agency. There is an obsession with process.
▶ 1:19:46Mr. Tjeerdsma: This is something that I would ask you as a committee, that is probably one of the biggest deterrents and why we need technical assistance is the complexity of the programs. Whether it is one of the easement programs.
▶ 1:20:10Mr. Tjeerdsma: Sometimes throwing more money, making more money available isn't always the answer, it is how can we make the program more workable? How can we make the sign-up process easier? Especially looking at the reduction in cuts, the reduction in staff. There has to be a balance and I think that balance is to simplify the sign-up process and I hope this committee can work on that. Thank you very much, excellent question.
▶ 1:20:34Sen. Hyde-Smith: Thank you Mr. chair.
▶ 1:20:36Chair Boozman: Senator? >> thanks, Mr. chairman. Two years ago, my wife was visiting family and called me and told me something is happening on interstate 55. This is just south of springfield. She said we have been diverted and I have to go through taylorville. There must've been an accident. There sure was.
▶ 1:21:07Chair Boozman: In may 2023 south of springfield, there was a 72-vehicle pileup that took the lives of eight people. The reason, a dust storm. The university of illinois recently completed a study that dry conditions were contributing to that. It ranks very low and conservation dollars.
▶ 1:21:39Chair Boozman: Can you explain why we have so few?
▶ 1:21:45Mrs. Dwyer: I would love to know why we don't see the proportion of dollars we would like to see. It is going to be the process that fixes this. We have about a million acres of cover crops that leaves a glaring hole. The question is why.
▶ 1:22:10Mrs. Dwyer: What is it going to take to assist a farmer in that position. It is a combination of the funding, the burdensome application process. I'm shocked they've gone in year after year, how many years cannot be denied in a row?
▶ 1:22:39Mrs. Dwyer: Partnering with really good private partners and bringing in that technical assistance to make it scalable with flexible programs.
▶ 1:22:49Sen. Durbin: What I heard from Mr. doyle is the producer has to make the decision early on to take land out of production in the near and short term, understanding and the long term there is real value to the operation. Are we dealing with the commitment being there to move forward, just a lack of resources?
▶ 1:23:15Mrs. Dwyer: It is a combination of things. For a state like illinois, it is what can we do for our land? It will be a difficult sell to take fertile program out -- ground out and put it into a program that will remove production for 10-15 years. We need to allow cover crops to be the baseline on those acres.
▶ 1:23:42Sen. Durbin: One other things I thought about when we discussed conservation is what we are sending down the mississippi river to the gulf of mexico or its new name. My question is is there anything that we can rely on the we can rely on that we are reducing runoff?
▶ 1:24:06Mrs. Dwyer: We are making progress and we are not trying to make progress in a bubble. We are seeing excessive rainfall. How can we incorporate different technology to make sure nutrient application is happening at the right time, at the right place, at the right rate. There are really no programs.
▶ 1:24:37Mrs. Dwyer: Minnesota has a great program on cost-sharing. It is going to be really hard without capital improvements to truly meet those goals.
▶ 1:24:48Sen. Durbin: You have any idea what our average productivity is?
▶ 1:24:56Mrs. Dwyer: We do have the highest yielding county in the country. Mclean.
▶ 1:25:05Sen. Durbin: Sen. durbin: do you have any idea what the production is in that area?
▶ 1:25:10Mrs. Dwyer: Well over 200 bushels.
▶ 1:25:13Sen. Durbin: You give reference to peeking in the 1950's. The united states has lost over a quarter of its farmland. Do you have any idea with the corn productivity was on the base acreage?
▶ 1:25:28Mrs. Dwyer: We have grown exponentially. If my great-grandfather and grandfather had sold 100 bushels, they would not have known what to do.
▶ 1:25:48Sen. Durbin: Do believe there is still upside for that potential?
▶ 1:25:52Mrs. Dwyer: I do.
▶ 1:25:54Sen. Durbin: Thank, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:25:56Chair Boozman: Senator justice.
▶ 1:26:01Senator Justice: Mr. chairman, thank you so much. Thank you all for being here. You know, it is really meaningful. Let me just tell you this. I'm an absolute soft-spoken, but direct human being, you know?
▶ 1:26:28Senator Justice: I have never wanted anything, I haven't want any thing for being here for me. I would tell you I'm probably the most impatient guy in the room. I'm the newest guy.
▶ 1:26:47Senator Justice: Also in regard to conservation, I really surprised you by saying this but there could be, there could be someone who has spent more miles in the woods or spend more time with a fly rod on a string or knows the discipline and beauty of more bird dogs than I.
▶ 1:27:15Senator Justice: With all that being said in addition to that that thing I don't understand is this. I had the good fortune of being on the energy committee. We are just surrounded by great people.
▶ 1:27:50Senator Justice: Here's the deal, if you are this impatient guy and you truly have done a lot of this work and you know how much help us with our soil erosion with all that being said, it touches all of our
▶ 1:28:20Senator Justice: Souls. Someway, somehow, we right here in these great buildings have got to realize that just in a very short order, we are going to be in an energy situation in this country that is not good.
▶ 1:28:51Senator Justice: And if we continue down the path we are on with our farmers and ranchers, it will be a bad day. We are trying to get by. We are trying to get by on funding a program with one dollars when it me -- needs 10.
▶ 1:29:21Senator Justice: It is just absolutely a gnat on a dinosaur. I have always approached things from a business guy standpoint. You best better take care of the important items. Why can't we just see that someway, somehow we've got to have energy and food and with all of that being said, why can't we just take care of what we have to take care of?
▶ 1:29:53Senator Justice: You are doing unbelievable work. There are all kinds of folks here, especially this chairman down here who is really, really special. Many people, really special. I could ask you 50 questions, I could ask you 5000 west and, you could -- you have to know that I was there I think when the conservation reserve program started.
▶ 1:30:24Senator Justice: I have seen it. I have seen the great work you do. I have seen how you do work with three parts to an 85,000 part puzzle and you still do it. You should be really proud. But some way, we've got to wake up. We've got to wake up all across the board. Because we've got to stand up for what we've got to have.
▶ 1:30:57Senator Justice: Every single country in this world, no matter how big or small, every single country the more energy they have, the more longer people live and the healthier they are. We are going to have a meltdown on energy without any question. If we don't watch out, we will have a meltdown on our agricultural side as well. We've got to wake up. We've got to wake up, america. That is all there is to it.
▶ 1:31:26Senator Justice: I will do everything I can, but I'm too impatient to not get frustrated. We've got to have a farm bill and the proper funding for conservation. Thank you.
▶ 1:31:37Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator slotkin.
▶ 1:31:41Senator Slotkin: Goodness, I saw my seniors come in and I thought I was bumped. First of all, I'm sorry to be asking these questions so close to you that I can almost spit on you. I've been trying to get out of the way so you can make eye contact with those asking you westerns. Thank you for being here. I live on my family farm, we leased the land now to a soybean farmer.
▶ 1:32:08Senator Slotkin: I want to thank you for what you do and we are big believers in michigan the conservation programs and incentivizing farmers. Carrots, not sticks on conservation work. I think it is a win-win. They are oversubscribed and underfunded. We want more in all of those programs. Our farmers are big believers in them.
▶ 1:32:33Senator Slotkin: My question is I had a farmers town hall may be about three weeks ago now and they were talking to me about the loss of some usda staff. I know about 2400 conservation staff have been relieved and I'm trying to get a sense of the impact. Anyone who wants to jump in.
▶ 1:32:59Senator Slotkin: Farmers, as senator ernst said, like to have a person they know to call and say what is going on? Can someone weigh in here on the impact? >> I can speak to the state of arkansas and thank you for asking the western. -- question. The programs are oversubscribed.
▶ 1:33:22Senator Slotkin: I believe fy 23, 25% of the projects were funded, so a very small amount, the money is tight. The state of arkansas, as I mentioned earlier, on our project, we had great access to them.
▶ 1:33:44Senator Slotkin: They are just a few years from that retirement and I don't see the ability of those who get their soil degrees as standing up to replace them. I think the staffing issue is ok. I'm sure every county and state will be looked at and see if there need to be changes.
▶ 1:34:10Sen. Slotkin: I got a little confused by my timing. The clock was doing funky things. Am I ok? Sorry, guys. The second question I have is on wetlands. We are all supportive, anyone in the conservation cares about wetlands. We are all big duck hunters in michigan. A wet spot on a field is not a wetland.
▶ 1:34:35Sen. Slotkin: I say someone who has a proud wet spot in the field across the street from my house which drives me crazy but it is not a wetland. How do we get this right? And can serve and protect what we need to protect but don't over indexed to the point where a farmer is having to protect a wet spot in the field that has been there for 35 years? Let me spread the love around here. Go ahead. >> thank you for the question.
▶ 1:35:05Sen. Slotkin: Coming from south dakota, the prairie pothole state in the prairie pothole region, we have a lot of similar issues. Although I think the problem is better solved or addressed now than it has been in the past, I think what we need to look at is having an rcs do additional wetland determinations because you are exactly right. It is a complicated process as far as the determinations.
▶ 1:35:34Sen. Slotkin: I think a redetermination of wetlands would probably be an order that I think would help solve that problem.
▶ 1:35:39Sen. Slotkin: Thank you, I yield back.
▶ 1:35:41Chair Boozman: Senator welch.
▶ 1:35:46Senator Welch: I just want to follow up on that. If we are going to be really looking at the wetlands, can we do that with a smaller, rather than larger staff? We can't, right?
▶ 1:36:07Senator Welch: We are so in vermont appreciative of the work that usda has done and we are really concerned as I think a lot of people are, senator justice as well, about the staffing cuts.
▶ 1:36:22Senator Welch: We had a staff aspirational level in our actual numbers are a good deal below that and since the buyouts and the doge cuts, it has been significantly compromised. My experience with the usda in vermont is it is really efficient. What is so wonderful about it is farmers trust you guys. And trust is in short supply.
▶ 1:36:55Senator Welch: I guess you have been asked by others about the funding cuts so I'm not going to keep asking you about it. I'm just joining my colleagues who are concerned about it and I express my appreciation and admiration for the work that has been done. With the loss of usda, does anybody see a way forward where we can be successful doing the work that has to be done?
▶ 1:37:27Senator Welch: With significant reductions in staff? Mr. blair?
▶ 1:37:29Mr. Blair: I would be glad to. Thank you for the question. We are concerned about it. We do need to keep as many employees as we can. We have lost employees through retirement at the other program. The terminations that occurred early on was key.
▶ 1:38:02Mr. Blair: Those were a lot of upcoming employees that had been trained and been well prepared for a long term career in conservation.
▶ 1:38:08Sen. Welch: Yes, let me interrupt you. That's right. I don't think any of us here are against looking at any program, kicking the tires, how can we do it at her, where can we reduce? Where do we need more resources?
▶ 1:38:28Sen. Welch: But my observation is it was a situation where folks came in and had a goal and then a lot of notices were sent out to people terminating them from their jobs and it was in advance of taking a look at the function, how do you do it and how can you do it better? And I think there is some damage that has been done as a result of the way in which it rolled out.
▶ 1:38:52Sen. Welch: But let's say that after the dust settles and it is settling now that there is a conclusion in our state programs that we have to re-resource. Can you describe how we would proceed to do that?
▶ 1:39:13Mr. Ellis: I think the key, senator, I'm a half glass full type person. Partnerships and we will have to rely on that to help our farmers and ranchers.
▶ 1:39:30Sen. Welch: I want to be candid. Can't be in agriculture without being half-full, right? You have to disregard experience you have to disregard experiencu you have to disregard experienct you have to disregard experiencf you have to disregard experience staff and you still have the same job or more, how are we going to proceed.
▶ 1:40:00Sen. Welch: Is that a shared concern that you have. >> senator, I would like to say one thing about the staff shortage. My whole career in washington we talked about years ago and it is even more vital now, how do we leverage private entities and funding?
▶ 1:40:30Sen. Welch: I would like to use the advantage -- example of pheasants forever, quail forever. We need to leverage private farms to help with the technical assistance and making sure we have money for the organizations that are doing that and even expand that so we are spending all federal dollars.
▶ 1:40:56Sen. Welch: Because that is usedr national park service is with good effect but we can't transfer all of the burden to the private sector. >> right, but I think if we leverage it.
▶ 1:41:13Chair Boozman: Thank you. Have you got anything? Very good. Well thank you again to all of our witnesses. And our committee members for their participation. As always, we appreciate our staffs for making these things happen. The wickard record will remain open for five business days and with that, today's hearing is adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]