April 10, 2002
Honorable Tom Harkin, Chairman
Honorable Richard Lugar, Ranking Member
Senate Agriculture Committee
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senators Harkin and Lugar:
As you finish negotiations on the 2002 farm bill, the state departments of agriculture urge you to include recommendations for an Agricultural Stewardship Block Grant Program. This initiative was proposed in section 256 of S. 1673 (the Lincoln-Hutchinson bill) and has the strong and unanimous support from all chief agricultural officers in the fifty states and four territories.
We believe this initiative would greatly enhance and compliment the Conservation Security Act and Farmland Stewardship Program proposals contained in the House and Senate bills. Our goal, like yours, is to more precisely tailor and target current conservation programs. Merging the block grant approach with these proposals will provide a better conservation "toolbox" and will foster a new state-federal partnership that will help us jointly address the needs of producers more effectively and efficiently. More importantly, it will reach all producers and help the agriculture community provide greater environmental benefits to the public.
Again, we urge you to include stewardship block grants as part of the conservation package. We believe the benefits and rewards of this approach will be enormous, and the state departments of agriculture stand ready to work with you to accomplish our mutual goals.
Sincerely,
<signed>
Billy Ray Smith
President, NASDA
Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Agriculture
c: Members of the Conference Committee