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Legislative update


Agriculture, infrastructure & budget Congress sets its schedule through spring.


By John Farner, Irrigation Association Government and Public Affairs Director


As Congress hits its stride in this election year, many issues relating to irrigated agriculture and water policy remain on the table.


Farm bill


First and foremost is the farm bill. Yes, it’s a farm bill year. Every five years Congress develops a comprehensive agricultural policy in the form of a farm bill that addresses everything from research, to subsidies, to crop insurance, to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to conservation, and everything in between. Even though it is not a regulatory bill, the farm bill can be controversial its own right, but because of its necessity and importance to U.S. agriculture, it has eventually passed Congress in a somewhat timely fashion each time it was up for reauthorization.


A strong focus of the irrigation industry is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Part of the conservation title of the farm bill, EQIP is a national program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service that provides financial assistance to farmers who seek to increase their practices and/or technologies to be more environmentally friendly. EQIP is now the go-to program for farmers to use for cost-sharing irrigation efficiency improvements. While this program is successful, limitations remain that hinder many growers from fully taking advantage of the program.


The draft of the House of Representatives’ farm bill takes strong steps in enhancing the EQIP program. First, through the life of the draft farm bill, EQIP will increase in mandatory spending to $3 billion. Second, it expands the Regional Conservation Partnership Program to not only expand beyond critical conservation areas,


8 Irrigation TODAY | April 2018


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