Home Farm Policy Menu Making Sense of Federal Programs -- Menu Introduction Sustainable Farming Connection Where farmers find and share information. Making Sense of Federal Programs -- Introduction The 1996 Farm Bill, known by the popular title "Freedom to Farm," offers farmers greater flexibility than they have had in decades to make planting decisions, choosing what is right for their farms and for the market. At the same time, however, this approach removes the system of deficiency payments from farm programs and exposes farmers to price swings the like of which they have not faced for many, many years. Just as important, the "Freedom to Farm" approach begins a series of annual cuts in federal payments to producers of farm commodities. The hard numbers of federal farm programs -- $7.3 billion in federal payments out of projected 1997 net farm income for all crops and livestock of $45 billion -- make it clear that there are strong business reasons to look at all of your farming options this year, and plan ahead for a world without significant federal support. :The USDA has several different programs that can help you achieve conservation goals on your own farm. Many of these are either brand new or substantially revised by the 1996 Farm Bill. Programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) or the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) can make it feasible for you to take land that presents particular environmental challenges out of production. New programs, like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Farm Option (CFO), can assist you with structural and management changes in your operation that can improve your environmental performance and help you meet the conservation requirements that are a part of the new Production Flexibility Contracts. These contracts were established under the Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA), and replace the old commodity payment system. Many of the farmers who will do best in this new, open system are those who use their new flexibility to adapt their planting systems to do many things at once: cut costs, diversify their position in the market, meet both government and personal conservation goals, and simply fit their farms to their own style of farming. This web version of a chapter from the guide, Making the Most of Freedom to Farm, is intended as an introduction to some of the federal programs that farmers all around the Midwest can use to make their farms thrive from economic, conservation, and personal points of view. The full guide will give you a taste of these practices and help you start thinking about how they might work on your farm. Each chapter has a long list of organizations and publications that can help you turn those ideas into reality. (See the news release and table of contents for more information.) The writing and compilation of Making the Most of Freedom to Farm drew on the talents of a wide range of farmers and others for information, guidance, and editorial assistance. Members of the steering committee of the Flexibility Outreach Project have offered considerable insight on the practical aspects of the techniques described in this guide. Leon Kohlmeier, a Waterloo, Illinois farmer and a leader within the Association of Professional Residue Managers, Lynn Betts of the Iowa office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Renee Robinson of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance were particularly helpful. Duane Sand of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, a valuable partner to LSP in the Flexibility Outreach Project, offered valuable advice on the content of several chapters. Land Stewardship Project staff members assisted, particularly Mark Schultz, the LSP Policy Program Director, and Brian DeVore, LSP's communications coordinator and editor of the Land Stewardship Letter. Stephen Carpenter of Farmers' Legal Action Group (FLAG) drafted the chapter on federal programs. Iowa State University animal scientist Mark Honeymann contributed a wealth of knowledge and written information on cutting-edge, low-cost swine production methods. Loni Kemp of the Minnesota Project was instrumental in reviewing the chapter on Total Farm Results. Neither this guide nor any of the work of the Flexibility Outreach Project would have been possible without the generous financial support of The Joyce Foundation and its long standing support of policy, outreach, and educational work to promote farming practices that protect water quality and the environment. Top of Page Next: Production Flexibility Contract Requirements Home Farm Policy Menu Making Sense of Federal Programs -- Menu Introduction ©1997 Committee for Sustainable Farm Publishing Please read about our usage permission policy and disclaimer. Send comments, suggestions and questions to the site author: Craig Cramer cdcramer@clarityconnect.com Coded using HoTMetaL Pro 3.0. Best viewed in Netscape 3.0 or later. Please see our credits page for more information. http://sunsite.unc.edu/farming-connection/farmpoli/features/makesens/intro.htm