Newhouse Introduces Bill to Support Farmers, Conservation

Press Release

Last week, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced H.R. 2613, the Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act of 2021. This bill will allocate funding for land-grant institutions to partner with local farmers to boost conservation and innovative climate practices. Farmers are already responsible stewards of the land, and this legislation empowers producers to voluntarily adopt practices that suit their individual needs while enabling the federal government to build on the successes already taking place in agricultural communities.

"For generations, farmers and ranchers in Central Washington and across the United States have understood that, in order to continue their important job of feeding the world, we must work together to conserve one of our most precious resources: our land," said Rep. Newhouse. "The Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act will give our local producers, land-grant universities, USDA-NRCS, and local entities the resources they need to expand upon the conservation efforts that are already taking place."

"WSU works hard to collaborate with our stakeholders around the state to support our agriculture industry and partners with the most innovative research," said Andre Denis Wright, Dean of WSU's College of Agricultural Human and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS). "As a farmer, former director of Washington State Department of Agriculture and a graduate of WSU's CAHNRS, Congressman Newhouse brings a unique perspective to this discussion as he understand the importance of land grant institutions across the country having the resources to encourage innovative solutions to climate challenges Washington's farmers are facing."

Full text of the bill can be found here, and a one-pager can be found here.

Background:

H.R. 2613, The Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act of 2021, is the House companion to legislation introduced in the Senate by Senators Young, Smith, Braun, and Schatz. This legislation would do the following:

Enable partnerships between land-grant institutions and local farmers to increase uptake of conservation and innovative climate practices
Allow farmers to voluntarily adopt practices that suite their individualized needs
Require land-grant institutions to partner with a non-profit, state, or federal entity
Allow the partnership to conduct a variety of activities to support farming communities like workshops, distribution of digital materials, and tests to measure the effectiveness of conservation and climate smart practices
Provide $13 million in funding for 4-year grants, with a maximum grant of $400,000
###

Source