With less than a month until the mid-term elections, some ag lawmakers are vowing to take a second look at conservation efforts in the 2023 Farm Bill.
Several GOP Ag leaders say recent attempts to fund conservation efforts are being done unilaterally, and they point to the $3.5 billion price tag on the climate-smart practices pilot program. Congressman Dog LeMalfa of California says the House Ag Committee must be mindful when spending massive amounts of tax dollars and making policy changes.
Ranking member Glenn GT Thompson says the money needs to be spread around.
“I am especially worried about the earmarking of all the new money just for climate rather than letting the locally-led process work.”
While Thompson is critical of the money being spent, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says farmer interest is high. USDA received more applications than they allocated funding for, totaling more than 1,000 applications for more than $20 billion.
