Government Agencies and Programs
Download
Report
Transcript Government Agencies and Programs
Government Agencies
and
Programs
Chapter 20
USDA Agencies
USDA was established in 1862
To provide assistance for farmers:
• Soil and water management
• Other facets of agriculture
Many work through state or local groups
Was reorganized and streamlined in 1994
• Some agencies eliminated or merged
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Main research arm of USDA
Established in 1953
• Basic and applied research in agriculture
Participated in the development of the
Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE)
Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation
Publish the magazine Agriculture Research
• Reports their current projects
Cooperative State Research, Education,
and Extension Service
(CSREES) Replaces old Cooperative Extension
Service
Merges extension and research at Agricultural
Experiment Stations
• Located at land-grant universities
• Jointly funded by state and federal dollars
Personnel funded by CSREES may have:
•
•
•
•
Extension appointments
Research assignments
Teaching positions at the college
Combination of the three
Consolidated Farm Service Agency
(CFSA)
Created by merging of ASCS and FmHA
Administers a number of funding programs and
two major soil conservation programs
Many activities are administered at state and
local levels
• Committees of local growers in Soil and Water
Conservation Districts (SWCD)
• Conservation programs utilize NRCS tech expertise
Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS)
Replaces older Soil Conservation Service
established in 1935 by Congress
Provides variety of assistance
• Technical support to CFSA programs
• Aid CFSA in establishing conservation policy
• Conduct soil surveys jointly with Agriculture
Experiment Stations
• Administer non-CFSA conservation programs
• Tech assistance in resource management issues such
as fish and wildlife habitat, pasture, and range
• Conduct National Resource Inventory every five
years – status and trends of nation’s soil and water
Soil and Water Conservation Districts
(SWCD) – Many USDA agencies operate
through SWCD local authority
President Roosevelt proposed model for
creating SWCD to state governors in 1937
Almost all states now have such districts
Follow county boundaries
Actual role varies state to state
Many have NRCS soil scientists assigned for
technical aid
USDA Conservation Programs
Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP)
Conservation and Wetland Reserve
Programs
Conservation Compliance Programs
Clean Water Act
Additionally, State and Local Efforts
Environmental Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP)
Authorized by the 1996 Farm Bill
Combined several cost-sharing programs
Administered by CFSA and NRCS
Helps growers in soil and water
conservation efforts
Provides money on a cost-share basis
Growers enter into five- and ten-year
agreements with USDA
Conservation and Wetland Reserve
Programs
(CRP)
The Food Security Act of 1985 created CRP
Purchases ten-year conservation easements
from growers
Growers plant land to permanent cover
Targets highly erodable land
1996 Farm Bill shifted CRP priorities to
emphasize environmentally sensitive areas
Conservation Compliance Programs
Sometimes called “Sodbuster”
Requires growers to take certain
conservation measures to remain eligible
for federal price-support programs
• Example: growers submit and execute soil
erosion-control plans for highly erodable land
Wetlands may also be protected
• “Swampbuster” provisions of Farm Bill – deny
eligibility for other USDA programs to
growers who drain and farm certain wetlands
Clean Water Act
Section 404 protects many of the nation’s
wetlands by requiring permits to
discharge dredged or fill materials in
wetlands, streams, rivers, and other
waters of the US
Most growers activities are exempt
• Except: conversion of wetlands to new use
filling for parking lots, other development
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers enforces
• EPA, NRCS, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
involvement and input to Section 404 as well
State and Local Efforts
States and localities also have laws and
programs, such as
• Soil and Water Districts
• Agricultural Experiment Stations
• Extension Services
• Others
Many local and state laws involve controlling
land use, such as zoning laws.