WASHINGTON,  -- "The farm bill's voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs are the largest environmental programs in the federal budget. They are critical to cleaner water, improved air quality, expanded wildlife habitat and protected land for future generations," said Ralph Grossi, American Farmland Trust (AFT) president in testimony before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research.

Grossi had four messages for the committee: -- Increase funding for conservation programs to match producers willingness to implement conservation practices;

-- Leverage taxpayer resources by offering a new cooperative conservation loan guarantee program to stimulate dramatically more stewardship;

-- Increase the effectiveness of programs by encouraging cooperative approaches to address resource concerns; and

-- Improve farm and ranch land protection programs to reduce the loss of this irreplaceable, strategic resource.

Working farm and ranch land comprises half the land in America. "Farmers are ready and willing to do more to protect the environment. Yet when they apply for federal cost-share programs, there is only enough money available to fund one-out-of-four applications. It's time for our nation to  match the commitment of producers by investing greater resources in conservation so we can deliver the benefits of healthy land to all Americans. This is especially critical as we enter an era of intensifying pressure on productive farmland due to the growing renewable fuels industry," Grossi said. AFT is calling for additional funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Grossi offered improvements to the current ala carte approach to conservation, suggesting that cooperative conservation partnerships could improve the effectiveness of programs by "getting the right practices in the right place and the right time, with enough producers together working in an area so their collective effort improves environmental quality." In addition, Grossi said the 2007 Farm Bill should create a new conservation loan guarantee program to help farmers and ranchers finance conservation measures on their operations. "This could greatly increase conservation by leveraging federal dollars." Such a program would allow the government to help producers implement conservation practices even when an individual's conservation priorities go beyond those indicated in current cost-share programs.

"A growing web of bureaucratic rules and regulations has beset the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP)," Grossi noted, "Yet the program is critical to preserving working farms and ranches across the country in the face of increasing urban pressure." AFT outlines changes to the program to make it more responsive to the many diverse farm and ranch land protection programs across the country, and says these can be accomplished while making the program more farmer-friendly, saving taxpayer money and maintaining safeguards to ensure that irreplaceable farm and ranch land is adequately protected. In sum, "we need to increase conservation, improve and simplify assistance to producers, use taxpayer's money more effectively, and protect one of our nation's most strategic resources: working farm and ranch land," said Grossi.

"The 2007 Farm Bill is an opportunity for our nation to leverage the commitment of American agriculture to conservation. Today, farmers and ranchers are producers of more than food, fiber and fuel; they are the primary providers of our nation's wildlife habitat, open spaces and watershed management-the stewards of our nation's natural resources," Grossi said.

More information on AFT's conservation proposals is available here: http://www.farmland.org//programs/campaign/StewardshipPolicies.asp Ralph Grossi's testimony is posted on AFT's website: http://www.farmland.org/news/pressreleases/default.asp A full copy of AFT's farm bill recommendations, Agenda 2007 can be accessed at: http://www.farmland.org/programs/campaign/documents/AFT_Agenda2007_May06.pd f American Farmland Trust is a national nonprofit organization working with communities and individuals to protect the best land, plan for agriculture and keep the land healthy. As the leading advocate for farm and ranch land conservation, AFT has ensured that more than a million acres stays bountiful and productive. AFT's national office is located in Washington, DC. The phone number is 202-331-7300.