Corn farmers, enviros unite ahead of farm bill

摘要

An environmental organization and the main lobbying group for corn farmers said they've signed a formal agreement to work together on farmland conservation, as Congress tries to wrap up the 2018 farm bill. The National Corn Growers Association and Environmental Defense Fund will advocate together on conservation policies, including on federal regulations and legislation, as well as encouraging private industry to invest more in sustainable agriculture, said Suzy Friedman, senior director for agricultural sustainability for EDF. Today's agreement amounts to a marriage on issues that EDF and NCGA have informally joined on in recent years, Friedman said. While much of the work centers on the farm bill, the groups will work on Endangered Species Act issues and encourage new methods for farmers to measure how effective their conservation practices are, she said. If Congress completes the farm bill this year as leaders say they intend, conservation programs will be in the mix and may require regulatory tweaks. "The public expects greater stewardship and transparency from farmers, and it's critical for the agricultural sector to show leadership on conservation," said Nathan Fields, vice president of production and sustainability at NCGA, in a news release. "EDF and NCGA are stronger together. We have different expertise and perspectives, and combining them is NCGA, which represents more than 40,000 dues-paying members, and EDF have already joined forces on an NCGA-run project called the Soil Health Partnership, which works with universities to collect data on practices such as reduced tillage and the use of cover crops, which are grown to protect and improve soil when the main crop isn't in the ground.