1990 Farm Bill Forum 



Proceedings 



Conservation Compliance 

 Highly Erodible Land Planning Workload: 

 In Montana, 13.5 million acres of 18 million 

 acres or 75 percent, is highly erodible. 



FSA Conservation Plaiuiing 



Planning Progress by Acres: 



Number of Plans: 



FSA Plans Applied: 



4.4 million acres is 33 percent of the highly 

 erodible cropland. We still have to help produc- 

 ers apply plans on 66 percent of the highly 

 erodible land, and many of these producers 

 have not worked with us or conservation 

 districts before. 



Amount remaining to be applied by 1995: 

 9.1 million acres 



Resource Management Systems Planning 

 FSA plans address erosion on only highly 

 erodible cropland. They do not consider a 

 producer's entire resource base. FSA plans also 

 do not fully consider cropland needs. Half of 

 the soil's organic matter on farmed soils has 

 been depleted. We are the Soil Conservation 

 Service, and must consider all needs of soil, in 

 addition to erosion control. During FSA plan- 

 ning, we encouraged farmers and ranchers to 

 develop complete conservation plans. 



These complete conscr\'ation plans are based on 

 Resource Management Systems. They contain 

 several options for producers to choose from in 

 order to bring erosion to tolerable levels on 

 range, hayland, pastureland or forestland, as 

 well as their cropland. 



Many producers have opted to develop a 

 complete conservation plan based on our 

 resource management system. We applaud 

 these producers. 



RMS Planning Progress 



Conservation Reserve Program 

 In nine signups, Montana has done its share in 

 meeting the national goal of 40-45 million acres 

 enrolled in CRP. 



March 86 

 May 86 

 August 86 

 March 87 

 July 87 

 Feb. 88 

 Aug. 88 

 Feb. 89 

 TOTAL 



13,700 



110,500 



219,000 



875,200 



616,043 



280,400 



282,523 



197,524 



2.5 million acres 



An estimated 300,000 additional acres were 

 added to the CRP in the ninth sign-up, which 

 ended in early August. This is a 100,000-acre 

 increase from the eighth sign-up. 



Wetland Determinations 



Not as big a workload as FSA compliance 



planning. 



Cumulative 



1987 10,000 10,000 



1988 87,000 97,000 



1989 185,000 282,000 



FSA has been a tool to help conservation 

 districts achieve erosion control goals. FSA has 

 helped resolve inconsistencies in former federal 

 farm programs. In the past we were urging pro- 

 ducers to participate in conservation programs, 

 while on the other hand, encouraging them to 

 produce surplus commodities to the soil's 

 detriment. FSA has brought USDA agencies 

 together as a conservation team. Those many 

 team members include the Montana Associa- 

 tion of Conservation Districts, conservation 

 districts, commodity groups, and many others. 



Montana Chapter, Soil and Water Conservation Society 



August 28, 1888 



