The end of September marks the official end of the 2008 Farm Bill, the funding authorization for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As we near the deadline we are slowly receiving word on the proposed changes for the new four-year legislation. Before their summer recess, both the Senate and House agriculture committees came to agreement on some significant changes for the upcoming years.

The two biggest changes are the reduction in financial assistance for conservation programs and the merging of 23 conservation programs into 13 new programs.

Below is a summary of some of the programs of interest in our area. The Conservation Reserve Program now provides emergency haying/grazing without penalty and allows managed harvesting with a 25 percent payment reduction.

While this might sound appealing, typically harvesting is limited to after Aug. 1 and there are mowing height restrictions which might not outweigh the payment reduction. The Conservation Stewardship Program continues; however, there is a 3 million acre enrollment reduction each year.

This reduction, at least in Pennsylvania shouldn’t be too impactful. Over the past few years our enrollment has dropped off as interest in the program has waned.

The Environmental Quality Incentive Program, our main funding program, remains and is combined with the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program. The House version actually proposes more favorable funding which is level with our current allocation; however, the Senate reduces funding by about 15 percent. Couple that with a mandatory 5 percent funding for wildlife and there is a significant funding change.

The other significant change is the elimination of the regionally based watershed programs and the creation of a new Regional Conservation Partnership Program which appears to pull funds from EQIP as well.

With all these changes it will be interesting to see what can actually get accomplished by the end of the fiscal year or if the current bill will be extended by one year as recently proposed.

Time will tell how the bill will take final shape, however; time is certainly not on our side.

Andy Gaver is a conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Butler County.