1990 Farm Bill Forum 



Proceedings 



serious look at Congressman Marlenee's 

 Agricultural Program Reporting and 

 Recordkeeping Improvement Act of 1989, 

 HR802. Surely, if a concerted effort is made to 

 study the various forms we arc required to fill 

 out to comply with commodity and conserva- 

 tion programs, some reductions and simplifica- 

 tions could be made. 



MGGA is also excited about the possibility oi 

 using our computers to access USDA-ASCS 

 computers. A large percentage of us utilize 

 computers and it would be a great help if we 

 could access the SCS computer network not 

 only for program and other information, but to 

 actually sign up for commodity programs from 

 our office on the farm. Many of us travel as far 

 as 70 to 80 miles to stand in line at ASCS offices 

 only to be told we need "one more form or 

 signature." 



En\ironmental Issues: Certainly, one of the 

 major concerns of the 1990 Farm Bill will be 

 environmental issues as they relate to produc- 

 tion agriculture. Our organization is sensitive to 

 the problems and potential problems that 

 agriculture has created for our environment 

 and believes that we must take an active role in 

 solving them. 



Montana and many states have responded to 

 the water quality issue by implementing 

 ground water protection laws. In our state, that 

 law was the product of compromise between 

 agribusiness, producers and environmentalists. 

 We believe it is a good law and will go a long 

 way in beginning the fight to protect the quality 

 of our water. 



Yes, we do have environmental problems in 

 agriculture. We admit that. We only ask that 

 Congress and others come to producers when 

 they are seeking workable answers to environ- 

 mental problems. 



Low Input Sustainable Agriculture: The buzz- 

 word on Capitol Hill and in many circles today 

 is LISA. Many seem to believe that it's a new 

 word and new concept that will revolutionize 

 U.S. agriculture. 



Let me tell you that Montana producers already 

 practice Low Input Sustainable Agriculture. We 



Montani Chapter, Soil and Watar Conservation Society 



do not purchase chemical and fertilizer inputs 

 because they are fun to buy, but we purchase 

 them when they make our operations more 

 efficient and our commodities a better product. 

 Certainly, we would like a wheat plant that 

 produced its own fertilizer, was resistant to the 

 Russian Wheat Aphid, and emitted natural 

 toxins that kept weeds from our fields. 



If there are production inputs with known 

 adverse impacts on human health or the 

 environment, we want to be the first to say we 

 should be working to get rid of them. However, 

 we will resist any attempts to make U.S. agri- 

 culture less efficient and competitive because 

 some urban intellectual believes it would be 

 "neat" to see an agriculture that reverted back 

 to the days of the horse and plow with farm 

 children pulling weeds and farm wives spread- 

 ing manure. 



Montana Association of 

 Conservation Districts 

 Peggy Robles 



Executive Vice President 



MACD represents the 59 conservation districts 

 in Montana and the over 500 men and women 

 who ser\'e as district supervisors. 



The 1985 FarmBill has increased the workload 

 for both the Soil Conservation Service and 

 conservation districts. Both of these agencies 

 agree that voluntary compliance is more 

 effective. The conservation district sup>ervisors 

 approve the plans developed by SCS, and to 

 date there have been very few app)eals. Changes 

 in the requirements for farm plans has defi- 

 nitely made the program more palatable to 

 farmers and ranchers. We support the concept 

 of looking at management practices on a case- 

 by-case, crop-by-crop basis. The ability to be 

 flexible in planning is important. 



The Conservation Reser\'e Program has been 

 very popular in Montana. Montana had 3.5 

 million acres goaled for CRP and 2.8 million 

 acres have been bid in to date. That means 32 

 million tons of soil saved each year. 



17 



Aiiguit29, 1889 



