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January 25, 2022
Farm Bill Primer: Conservation Title
The conservation title of a farm bill generally contains
projected 2018 farm bill cost, or $60 billion of the total of
reauthorizations, amendments, and new programs that
$867 billion in 10-year mandatory funding it authorized
encourage farmers and ranchers to voluntarily implement
(FY2019-FY2028). Spending for agricultural conservation
resource-conserving practices on private land. Starting in
programs generally has increased from $2.3 billion in
1985, farm bills have broadened the conservation agenda to
FY2002 to over $5 billion in total outlays in FY2020.
include addressing multiple natural resource concerns.
Annual outlays beyond the 2018 farm bill’s expiration
Although the number of conservation programs has
(FY2023) are projected to plateau above $6 billion (Figure
increased and techniques to address resource problems
1), assuming programs are reauthorized with no changes.
continue to emerge, the basic approach has remained
unchanged: provide financial and technical assistance to
Selected Farm Bill Conservation Programs
implement conservation systems supported by education
and research programs.
Working lands programs allow private land to remain in
production while implementing various conservation practices to
As Congress begins the process of authorizing the next
address natural resource concerns specific to the area.
farm bill, areas of possible interest in the conservation title

Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation
may include funding for programs, climate strategies for the
Stewardship Program, and Agricultural Management
agricultural sector, the backlog of unfunded applications,
Assistance
compliance provisions, and program flexibility.
Land retirement programs provide payments to private
Conservation Program Portfolio
agricultural landowners for temporary changes in land use and
management to achieve environmental benefits.
Conservation programs are administered by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and can be grouped

Conservation Reserve Program––includes Conservation
into the following categories: working land programs, land
Reserve Enhancement Program, Farmable Wetland
retirement programs, easement programs, partnership and
Program, Clean Lakes Estuaries and Rivers Pilot (CLEAR30),
grant programs, and conservation compliance (see text box
Soil Health and Income Protection Program, and Transition
and CRS Report R40763, Agricultural Conservation: A
Incentives Program
Guide to Programs).
Easement programs voluntarily impose a permanent or long-
term restriction on land use in exchange for a payment.
Other types of conservation programs—such as watershed

Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and Healthy
programs, emergency land rehabilitation programs, and
Forests Reserve Program
technical assistance—are authorized in other nonfarm-bill
Partnership and grant programs use partnership agreements
legislation. Most of these programs have permanent
and grants to leverage program funding with nonfederal funding.
authorities and receive appropriations annually through the
discretionary appropriations process. These programs

Regional Conservation Partnership Program, Conservation
generally are not addressed in farm bill legislation unless
Innovation Grants, On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials,
amendments to the program are proposed.
Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program,
Voluntary Public Access, and Habitat Incentive Program
Title II (Conservation) of the Agricultural Improvement Act
Conservation compliance prohibits a producer from receiving
of 2018 (P.L. 115-334; 2018 farm bill) reauthorized and
selected federal farm program benefits (including crop insurance
amended portions of most conservation programs, though
premium subsidies) when conservation program requirements
there was focus on the large-cost programs, namely the
for highly erodible lands and wetlands are not met.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Environmental

Highly erodible land conservation (Sodbuster), wetland
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and Conservation
conservation (Swampbuster), and Sodsaver
Stewardship Program (CSP). Most farm bill conservation
programs are authorized to receive mandatory funding (i.e.,
In addition to funding authorized in the 2018 farm bill,
they do not require an annual appropriation) and include
legislation before the 117th Congress would increase
authorities that expire with other farm bill programs at the
funding for selected conservation programs. For example,
end of FY2023. For additional information on conservation
the House-passed Build Back Better Act (BBBA, H.R.
programs in the 2018 farm bill, see CRS Report R45698,
5376) would extend and increase funding for selected
Agricultural Conservation in the 2018 Farm Bill.
conservation programs, such as EQIP, CSP, Agricultural
Conservation Easement Program, and Regional
Funding for Conservation
Conservation Partnership Program, by more than $21
The conservation title is one of the larger non-nutrition
billion over 10 years (see CRS In Focus IF11988, Build
titles of the farm bill, accounting for 7% of the total
Back Better Act: Agriculture and Forestry Provisions). This
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Farm Bill Primer: Conservation Title
level of increase, if enacted, could influence the farm bill
perspectives, including support for and opposition to a
debate for conservation funding.
USDA role in standardizing voluntary carbon markets for
agriculture and forestry. This debate could carry into the
Figure 1. Farm Bill Conservation Program Mandatory
next farm bill, including what role the conservation title
Spending, FY2002-FY2031
could play in assisting producers to generate carbon credits
outlays in millions of dol ars (actuals adjusted for inflation)
or support carbon markets. For additional information, see
CRS Report R46956, Agriculture and Forestry Offsets in
Carbon Markets: Background and Selected Issues.
Program Backlogs
Arguments for expanding conservation programs in earlier
farm bills were persuasive in light of evidence that large
backlogs of interested and eligible producers were unable to
enroll due to a lack of funds. Debate on a new farm bill
could see similar arguments. Demand to participate in many
of the conservation programs exceeds available program
dollars several times over in some programs.
Acceptance rates and backlogs for conservation programs
vary by program and program type. In general, working
lands programs continue to experience low acceptance
rates, whereas recent sign-ups under land retirement
programs have had higher acceptance rates. For example, in
Sources: CRS using Congressional Budget Office baseline data,
FY2020, USDA funded 27% of eligible program
FY2001-FY2021; and Office of Management and Budget, Table 10.1—
applications received for EQIP, 35% for CSP, and 43% for
Gross Domestic Product [GDP] and Deflators Used in the Historical
Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA). By
Tables: 1940-2026, May 2021.
comparison, the 2021 CRP general sign-up had more than 2
Notes: FY2002-FY2020 include actual spending levels adjusted for
million acres offered for enrollment and almost 1.9 million
inflation to 2021 dol ars using the GDP price deflator. FY2021-
acres were accepted (93%). Policy issues beyond funding
FY2031 are projected spending levels in current year dol ars. Chart
levels can also affect application acceptance rates. Large,
does not include sequestration or savings from repealed programs.
ongoing backlogs of unfunded applications could provide a
Climate Change and Carbon Markets
case for additional funding, whereas other policy
mechanisms could be proposed to reduce demand.
Current agriculture sector strategies for addressing climate
change, both through adaptation and mitigation, rely on the
Conservation Compliance
delivery of voluntary conservation technical assistance and
The Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-198; 1985 farm
financial support programs. Most farm bill conservation
bill) created the highly erodible lands conservation and
programs are designed to address multiple concerns through
wetland conservation compliance programs, which tied
locally adaptable practices. Thus, no existing conservation
various farm program benefits to conservation standards.
program is specific to climate change adaptation or
This provision has been amended numerous times to
mitigation, but most programs can integrate adaptation to
remove certain farm program benefits and add others. The
changes in climate within their current structure.
2018 farm bill made relatively few changes to compliance
requirements. Some view these conservation compliance
As part of the next farm bill, Congress may evaluate how
requirements as burdensome, and they continue to be
well farm bill conservation programs assist producers in
unpopular among producer groups. Conservation
achieving climate change-related goals. Recent USDA
compliance has remained a controversial issue since its
initiatives related to climate change include the working
introduction in the 1985 farm bill, and debate on its
lands programs (e.g., EQIP and CSP) and proposed
existence and effectiveness is likely to continue.
discretionary use of the Commodity Credit Corporation,
which serves as a funding mechanism for mandatory farm
Directed Spending and Flexibility
bill spending (see CRS Report R44606, The Commodity
The 2018 farm bill required some existing conservation
Credit Corporation (CCC) and CRS Report R46454,
programs to direct a specific level of funding or acres, or
Climate Change Adaptation: U.S. Department of
percentage of a program’s funding, to a resource- or
Agriculture). How USDA implements these climate-
interest-specific issue, initiative, or subprogram. Through
focused initiatives and pilot projects may influence the
these directed policies, Congress specified a support level
conservation title.
or required investment that USDA is to achieve through
program implementation. The specified levels may reduce
In addition to proposed changes, such as those in BBBA
USDA’s flexibility to allocate funding based on need or
that would increase funding for existing conservation
reduce the total funds or acres available for activities that
programs to achieve climate change-related goals, Congress
may not meet a resource-specific provision. Congress could
has also debated legislation related to carbon markets and
consider the impact of these policies in the next farm bill.
the role agriculture could play in them (e.g., Growing
Climate Solutions Act, S. 1251/H.R. 2820). The role of
agriculture in carbon markets has produced a variety of
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Farm Bill Primer: Conservation Title

Megan Stubbs, Specialist in Agricultural Conservation and
Natural Resources Policy
IF12024


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