Ernst Breaks Down Barriers to Conservation Practices for Iowa Farmers

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is pushing to remove bureaucratic barriers and better support farmers in implementing conservation practices that improve soil health and water quality.

At an Agriculture Committee hearing, she announced her new bipartisan Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act, which would update the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) process to:

• Require a regular review of existing conservation practice standards,
• Create a public process for submitting and adopting new practices, and
• Prioritize the integration of innovative tools like nutrient efficiency technologies — biological fertilizer being one example that’s proven to improve plant growth.

Watch Senator Ernst’s remarks here.

“Traveling across Iowa, I regularly hear from farmers who are eager to implement conservation practices that improve soil health, water quality, and long-term productivity — but they face real barriers when rigid USDA standards slow things down,” said Senator Ernst. “I’m leading the Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act to modernize how USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service updates its technical standards. Ultimately, the goal is simple: let’s cut the red tape, let’s keep standards science-based and flexible, and help farmers get conservation tools in use faster.”

“Iowa continues to lead and set records in conservation, but there’s still significant work to be done in the years and decades to come. The USDA is an important federal partner in these efforts, and it is essential that we streamline the review and approval of new technologies and practices that are proven to help farmers and landowners improve soil health and water quality,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.“Improving efficiency, transparency, and predictability within federal programs will help us strengthen our partnerships, accelerate the adoption of conservation practices and make progress on Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy goals.”

“By leveraging innovations in regenerative agriculture and soil health practices, we can help farmers and producers make their working lands more resilient,” said Senator Heinrich. “Our bipartisan legislation accomplishes this by updating and streamlining the process for developing new conservation practice standards at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. This will allow producers to build more resilience into their operations.” 

“Streamlining updates to conservation practice standards helps cut the bureaucratic red tape that our farmers have been wrongly forced to navigate. Our producers work hard to find new, innovative ways to work the land while conserving its resources, and the federal government should be a partner in doing so — not a roadblock,” said Senator Marshall. “I'm proud to work on this bipartisan solution with Senator Ernst to ensure farmers have the tools necessary to support conservation efforts and help producers leave their land better than they found it.”

“Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in planted cropland, but for years, has ranked as low as 37^th in farm conservation funds that USDA distributes to help farmers adopt cover crops, conservation tillage, and other critical environmental practices.  USDA's statewide one-size-fits-all conservation practice rules do not always match the unique needs of each farm,” said Senator Durbin. “This bill creates a process to add more flexibility to these standards, provide routine updates to keep up with the latest innovations, and ensure more academic and farmer input into developing the conservation practices.”   

Background:
Ernst has long held that farmers are the original conservationists and pushed to remove red tape from USDA conservation programs to make these tools more accessible.

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