FY2020 Appropriations for Agricultural Conservation

Summary

The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. The FY2020 consolidated appropriations bills passed by the House and Senate (H.R. 3055) include funding for conservation programs and activities at USDA, among other departments. Differences between the two versions remain to be resolved. In the absence of enacted full-year appropriations, Congress passed a continuing resolution (P.L. 116-59, Division A) through November 21, 2019.

Agricultural conservation programs include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Most conservation program funding is mandatory and is authorized in omnibus farm bills. Other conservation programs—mostly technical assistance—are discretionary spending funded through annual appropriations.

The largest discretionary conservation program is the Conservation Operations (CO) account, which funds conservation planning and implementation assistance on private agricultural lands across the country. The CO account is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and funds more than half of the agency’s total staff positions. The FY2020 House- and Senate-passed bills would increase funding for CO by $10.1 million and $15.7 million, respectively, above FY2019 levels to $829.6 million and $835.2 million, respectively.

A decline in funding for CO over time has resulted in declining NRCS staffing levels. Reduced staff could impact NRCS’s ability to administer farm bill conservation programs and provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers. Other shifts in staffing to the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center have also impacted total staffing levels, though it is difficult to evaluate how these transfers have impacted the agency’s overall operations relative to the decline in overall funding.

Other discretionary spending is primarily for watershed programs. The largest—Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO)—was funded at $150 million in FY2019. The House- and Senate-passed bills would increase WFPO funding to $155 million and $175 million, respectively.

Most mandatory conservation programs are authorized in omnibus farm bills and do not require an annual appropriation. However, previous Congresses have reduced mandatory conservation program funding through Changes in Mandatory Program Spending (CHIMPS) in the annual agricultural appropriations law every year between FY2003 and FY2018. The Trump administration requested CHIMPS to two mandatory conservation programs for FY2020, but neither the House- nor the Senate-passed appropriations bills include reductions to mandatory conservation programs.

Agriculture appropriations bills may also include policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch should carry out the appropriations. The FY2020 House- and Senate-passed bills both include policy provisions for conservation programs that range from reports to Congress to suggested natural resource priorities.