1990 Farm Bill Forum 



Proceedings 



to the land and husbandry problems. 

 Lastly, the 1985 Farm Act is dictatorial. It is 

 voluntary, but one can't afford not to volunteer. 

 Part of the volunteering is a mandatory conser- 

 vation plan. Ultimately, conservation, like 

 morality, cannot be legislated. The owner must 

 have the genuine desire to do the right thing, 

 and he must also have the economic resources 

 to carry out those desires without hardship. 



As an alternative, Montana Farmers Union 

 favors a bushel quota system to replace the 

 acreage system now used. Under the quota 

 system a bushel allotment would be given to 

 each producer based on the farm's history 

 record, and would allow for the marketing of 

 that amount. The cumulative quota should 

 reflect the needs of the domestic market, 

 profitable foreign trade market and charity 

 needs. The ability to match need with supply 

 and insulate surplus from the market would 

 bring the agriculture economy to a par with the 

 rest of the nation. Prices reflecting the true 

 value of the raw materials would bring about 

 their best and most efficient use. 



The balance of supply, demand, and the 

 accompanying price are essential ingredients of 

 good conservation. The effect of this balance on 

 producers would be to encourage the cultural 

 use of only the most suitable acres, find alterna- 

 tive uses for the more marginal acres, and have 

 the funds to do so. The key is to remove the 

 obsession to produce more and more at a lower 

 and lower price. Other benefits include less 

 chemical and energy use, but probably the most 

 imp>ortant benefit is the conservation of human 

 resources by a renewal of the spirit and soul of 

 rural America. This, after all, is the bottom line 

 to soil and water conservation and the most 

 glaring deficiency in the current farm act. 



The Farm Act of 1985 created through surplus 

 an imbalance between land and p>cople that 

 makes their relationship an adversarial one and 

 is not conducive to the well-being of either. 

 Blame for the virtual mining of the topsoil of 

 this country can be traced directly to the Food 

 Security Act of 1985, thereby making the word 

 security devoid of meaning. 



For the benefit of the land and the people who 

 live because of it, the relationship must be 



symbiotic. That symbiosis would best be 

 exemplified by a conservation ethic that is a free 

 choice and not a mandated one. Free choice 

 conservation is the product of a balance be- 

 tween the value of produce from the land and 

 the remainder of the economy. 



That is the practical goal and anything less as 

 embodied by the Food Security Act of 1985 or 

 its extension should not be tolerated. 



Fort Peck Tribes 

 Debi Madison 



Environmental Engineer 



As a reservation comprised of 2.1 million acres 

 of mostly agricultural lands, the Fort Peck 

 Tribes have a keen interest in the 1990 Farm 

 Bill. Over half of the $5.4 million annual tribal 

 budget is derived from its agricultural resource. 

 If you think it's hard operating a business on 

 your land, try running a government. 



Currently, the tribes have enrolled acreage in 

 the Conservation Reserve Program based on a 

 share percentage with the operator. This was 

 not, however, an easy process. Questions 

 immediately rose as to how to treat a tribe. For 

 instance: How are farm units determined? Can 

 each tribal member be a unit, or each council- 

 man or can only the tribe's land as a whole be 

 considered as one unit? Can the tribe enroll 

 land into CRP on its own? These questions 

 required several weeks of letter writing, waiting 

 for responses, etc. Finally, the tribes and leasers 

 were allowed to enter highly erodible lands into 

 the CRP. 



This exercise raised other questions, specifi- 

 cally, is a farm plan required for the tribes on 

 unleased tracts and, if so, how will it be imple- 

 mented? Also, on LTA (long-term agreement) 

 projects, how much cost-share can the tribe 

 apply for? Another unit question. 



The tribes believe that a specific policy needs to 

 be developed by the Soil Conservation Service/ 

 Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Service 

 so that these questions could be easily an- 

 swered at the local level. The Roosevelt County 

 Conservation District has done an outstanding 



14 



Montani ChaptBr, Soli and Water Conservation Society 



Augustus, 188S 



