35 



We welcome all of you to the subcommittee. Again, if you prefer 

 to summarize your statements, that is fine with this committee. 

 Your entire full statement is received for the record of the sub- 

 committee so the entire membership and its staff will have them 

 for its review. 



We will begin with Mr. Tarburton. 



STATEMENT OF JOHN F. TARBURTON, SECRETARY, DELA- 

 WARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ON BEHALF OF THE 

 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE 



Mr. Tarburton. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of 

 the subcommittee. I am Jack Tarburton, secretary of the Delaware 

 Department of Agriculture. I appear before you today on behalf of 

 the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, a 

 nonprofit association of public officials representing the commis- 

 sioners, secretaries, and directors of agriculture in the 50 States 

 and four territories. I will summarize my remarks and ask that my 

 full statement be included for the record. 



As we look at the issue of natural resource protection and specifi- 

 cally water quality improvement, there are three objectives we can 

 all agree upon. We want to protect and enhance our natural re- 

 sources; we want to ensure that we have a safe, adequate, and af- 

 fordable food and fiber supply; and we want to achieve the first two 

 goals in a manner that services our economic needs. Farmers and 

 ranchers across this country want to solve the problems with water 

 quality directly attributable to agricultural sources. It is our re- 

 sponsibility as policymakers to provide them with programs, edu- 

 cation, training, and financial assistance to accompHsh that objec- 

 tive. 



We only need look at the volumes of information featured in 

 every farm and ranch publication during the past few years to rec- 

 ognize that an information explosion on the environment is taking 

 place throughout the country. These environmental articles are not 

 about whether farmers and ranchers should participate in the solu- 

 tion, but rather how they can incorporate conservation practices on 

 their farms that protects water and soil resources. 



Here are some guiding principles which should be used to de- 

 velop programs and policies as we look for solutions to the ques- 

 tions production agriculture faces. 



Natural resources management policy decisions should be driven 

 not by assertion, but by scientific fact. Farmers and ranchers will 

 respond if they know there are problems and if they are given rea- 

 sonable alternatives on how to fix them. Improving water quality 

 is a process which takes time for results. Education and technical 

 programs should focus on identifying local solutions. And regard- 

 less of what programs are in place, nothing happens until the man- 

 agement practices are applied to the land. 



Reauthorization of the Clean Water Act is an opportunity to re- 

 view the quality of our Nation's water resources, assess our efforts 

 to clean up impaired waters and prevent potential pollution, and 

 set a course to protect the vital resource. Agricultural operations, 

 along with urban, construction, septic, and natural sources require 



