1、 July 11, 2014 Reductions to Mandatory Agricultural Conservation Programs in Appropriations Law Federal spending for agricultural conservation programs (programs that assist agricultural producers with correcting and preventing natural resource concerns) generally comes in two forms: (1) discretiona
2、ry spending provided through annual appropriations acts, and (2) mandatory spending authorized and paid for in multiyear legislation (e.g., farm bills). Historically, mandatory agricultural funding was reserved for the farm commodity programs, but it has expanded in recent years to include conservat
3、ion, rural development, research, and bioenergy programs. This expansion has generated both concern and support. Some consider the expansion to be beyond the scope of the authorizing committees jurisdiction, while others prefer the stability of mandatory funding to that of the appropriations process
4、. Mandatory Conservation Spending Large backlogs of interested and eligible producers led to new and expanded farm bill conservation programs with mandatory spending authority beginning in the mid-1980s. Currently, the level of mandatory spending for conservation is roughly five times that of discre
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