Congress recently passed a bill with very strong bipartisan support that includes a three-month continuing resolution funding the government to this March, plus a one-year farm bill extension, natural disaster aid, and agricultural economic assistance. Thank you to House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents my district here in Louisiana, for avoiding a government shutdown and looking out for the interests of farmers nationwide.
Speaker Johnson’s staffers visited my farm last year, and it meant a lot that they heard what I had to say. We are dealing with 2025 crops and inputs, but we are dealing with 1980 prices for those crops. We’re working hard to use modern conservation practices and other innovations to reduce costs and increase crop yield, which should result in higher net income for farmers, but we’re not there yet.
Congress needs to take the urgent next step to complete a comprehensive five-year farm bill that includes funding for farmland conservation. Whether it’s extreme winds, heat, drought, or flooding, we can’t predict the weather, but conservation practices help us adapt. When Hurricane Rita came through in 2005, we thought it was the hurricane of a lifetime. But then came Hurricane Laura in 2020, an even stronger Category 3 hurricane in DeRidder, almost 100 miles from the coast.
Put simply, farmers need as much predictability as possible, and federal support programs allow us to plan against the unpredictable and make long-term decisions about how to grow America’s food. Knowing that we can count on federal support for the long term allows us to plan, innovate, reduce costs, and increase yields, all while being better stewards of the land.
Within our parish, farmers and ranchers rely on practices supported by the farm bill. For example, ranchers have constructed cross-fencing and dug ponds to give cattle easier access to water and use their land more efficiently. Farmers have built modern irrigation systems that conserve water and help crops survive during drought.
For several farmers and ranchers like myself, many of these practices have been implemented in partnership with farm bill conservation funding. These types of practices are critical for helping Louisiana farmland remain healthy and productive.
My farm has been a long-time partner with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and we regularly use their Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program, two major conservation funding sources for farmers and ranchers. These two programs work together to reimburse farmers for the conservation practices they implement; EQIP is a first-step, single-practice program, and CSP is a follow-on, more comprehensive program for farmers who want to address resource concerns across their entire farm.
While these programs are not perfect, many farmers have benefited directly from EQIP and CSP. The demand for these programs is high. In Louisiana in 2023, $25 million of EQIP and $28 million of CSP funds were awarded to producers. While this support was critical, demand was 3.5 times available funding - 3,700 producers applied, and only 826 contracts were awarded.
Conservation programs for farms have been in place for decades. But, under current government financial pressures, I’m worried that this funding could become a political casualty. Make no mistake - cuts to these programs would be devastating to farmers and their families, to consumers, and to the food independence of our country.
Farmers across the nation rely on conservation programs to safeguard our precious soil. Our Congressional representatives should resist any short-sighted proposals to reduce conservation funding. Instead, Congress should make the decision to continue investing in practices that empower farmers to innovate and grow more crops, lower costs, and produce healthier food for consumers. Balancing productivity and conservation protects our environment, our communities, and our food.
I cherish the opportunity to farm alongside my brother and hope my children will continue the family legacy. I’m committed to conservation and ongoing learning. I'm 59, and if I farm till I'm 80, Lord willing, I'm going to continue learning, innovating, and producing food for American families. That’s what farmers do.
David Smith of DeRidder, Louisiana, is a row-crop farmer who operates a 2,000-acre farm with his brother. He has served as the president of the Beauregard Parish Farm Bureau for over 30 years.
