Farm bill sets aside $1 billion for U.S. rural communities-Idaho to get funds for conservation, business ventures

The 2002 farm bill will do more than pay Idaho
farmers to grow wheat, barley and oats. It could also help a small
band of entrepreneurs in rural eastern Idaho launch a new business
venture.

The Idaho Statesman

The $73.5 billion farm bill now awaiting the Senate´s final approval
sets aside $1 billion over the next six years for programs that help
rural economies across the nation. Another $17.1 billion will pay for
conservation programs that benefit farmers, rural communities and
cities alike.

If all goes according to plan, a fledgling co-op of two dozen
mom-and-pop businesses in Butte, Custer and Lemhi counties will get
a grant from a new farm bill program that will help them turn their
crops into upscale specialty products they´ll market directly to
consumers.

The group, which goes by the name Lost River Valley Brand, needs
about $150,000 to develop additional products, find markets,
distribute goods and provide small start-up loans, said Linda Hestag,
director of the Mackay Action Center, an economic development
organization. The center is advising the members of the co-op about
how to obtain grants and other funding.

The group´s product line includes beef, lamb, salsa, barbecue sauce,
tomatoes and furniture.

“This is about actually developing an entrepreneurial spirit for farmers
instead of telling them not to work, which is hugely important for the
personality of a community,” Hestag said. “We´re going to be a model
for the state.”

The amounts Idaho will get for various farm bill programs won´t be set
until after the bill is approved and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
starts setting states´ allocations based on population and other
factors.

In 2001, Idaho received $123 million for programs funded by the 1996 farm bill and an
additional $170 million in emergency crop assistance payments, according to Sen. Mike
Crapo´s office.

The rural economy and conservation provisions in the bill now before Congress will probably
do more to boost rural economies than the $46 billion in commodity payments the bill will
provide to the nation´s farmers over the next six years, said Priscilla Salant, a rural policy
expert at the University of Idaho.

But many of the same farm groups who pushed for phasing out government subsidies in 1995
pushed hard to keep them alive this year. Idaho´s Republican delegation joined rural
Republicans and Democrats nationwide to increase the subsidies in the face of criticism from
conservatives such as talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Low prices have made many Idaho farmers even more dependent. Last year, Idaho farmers
received more than $206 million in direct government payments, nearly a third of all farm
income in the state.

According to the Environmental Working Group, which has posted farm subsidy payments on
its Web site, 10 percent of Idaho´s farmers receive two-thirds of the state´s crop subsidies.
Conservation payments are more evenly distributed and don´t encourage farmers to grow
crops that are already in surplus, unlike subsidy payments, she said.

“The conservation payments sometimes make it possible for smaller farmers to remain
economically viable, where commodities programs don´t necessarily do that,” Salant said.

The conservation programs pay farmers to set aside highly erodible land, wetlands and
grasslands. They also provide grants to help farmers do things like stabilize stream banks,
restore wetlands, build ponds that retain sediment and manure runoff and install
water-conserving sprinkler systems.

The Environmental Working Group says there´s a $26 million backlog of such projects
awaiting funding in Idaho.

“The farm bill is one of the most, if not the most, pro-environment pieces of legislation that
Congress works on,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, a member of the Senate Agriculture
Committee who saw some of his funding proposals incorporated into the final bill. “We don´t
recognize the dramatic benefit to the environment that´s achieved through this piece of
legislation.”

Farm bill conservation programs are popular with both producers and city dwellers, said Kevin
Koester, a farmer and a member of the Idaho Association of Soil Conservation Districts.
Farmers want to do right by the environment; they just need a little technical help and money
to do it, he said.

“The American consumer wants cleaner and better-smelling air, the soil to stay in place and
clean water,” Koester said. “That can all be accomplished, but it takes some dollars.”

Rural development experts are pleased with the money the farm bill dedicates to rural
economies. Unlike the commodity and conservation program dollars, the farm bill´s rural
development money will make its way to rural communities that have tourism- and
logging-based economies.

The 1996 farm bill, which still is in effect, set aside $300 million for rural economic
development, in contrast with the planned $1 billion for the act now before the Senate.

Over the next six years, the farm bill would provide $360 million to help small towns upgrade
their drinking water and sewer systems, $100 million for rural areas to get high-speed Internet
service and $100 million for rural business investment. The amounts for Idaho haven´t been
set yet.

Before small communities can attract new businesses and diversify their economies, they
need to have good drinking water and sewage systems, said Bob Rapoza, a lobbyist for the
National Rural Housing Coalition. He said a recent Environmental Protection Agency study
identified a $14 billion backlog nationwide of needed repairs to drinking water and sewer
systems.

“Virtually all the communities that violate the Safe Drinking Water Act have populations that
are less than 3,300,” Rapoza said. “This is a big shot in the arm.”

Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture´s Idaho Rural Development Program could
not say how much money Idaho communities need to fix their water systems. Last year, the
Idaho USDA office distributed $17.4 million in loan and grant money to rural water systems.

“I´m sure there are other projects out there that we could fund if we had more money,” said
Mike Field, director of the USDA´s Idaho Rural Development Program. “Right now, we hate to
create more demand. With this farm bill, we may be able to do more.”

http://204.228.236.37/story.asp?ID=9552