More federal dollars are proposed for landowners who adopt conservation practices, and the funds may become easier to tap.

That's the message Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Arlen L. Lancaster stressed during his visit to the county this morning.

Before he spoke at Dale Herr's crop farm in Colerain Township, he told the New Era that U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns' proposed 2007 farm bill would increase conservation funding by $7.8 billion.

"The secretary's farm bill will make conservation easier," he said. "More dollars will be available for the producer."

Farmers and other landowners who take steps such as planting a ground cover crop, creating buffer systems or terraces, or implementing animal waste systems, would be eligible for funding, Lancaster said.

The news comes as Pennsylvania is struggling to comply with the government-mandated cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay watershed by 2010.

Some nutrients from Lancaster County farms end up in area streams and eventually pollute the bay.

Lancaster said each landowner can make a difference.

"Many people don't realize it comes down to their yard, their farm, their communities," he said.

Lancaster lauded Herr for implementing numerous conservation practices on his 301-acre crop farm.

The Herr family has installed waterways, diversions, underground outlets, pipe outlet terraces and riparian buffers. The Herrs have also rotated crops and employed no-till and minimum tillage methods that protect the soil from erosion.

Lancaster said the 2002 farm bill raised funding for conservation by 80 percent, but even more is needed to help more landowners take similar steps.

Many landowners requesting funding for conservation have been turned away because of a lack of funding, he said. The new farm bill seeks to attract more specialty crops farmers, beginning farmers and others who may have not considered themselves likely to receive conservation funding in the past.

Lancaster also said some conservation programs need to be consolidated to limit administrative costs and funnel more money to landowners.

The USDA, along with its NRCS agency, is working with Congress on the proposed farm bill and Lancaster said "we've been encouraged by Congress' reception."

The farm bill contains more than 65 proposals. They are based on comments and suggestions received from farmers, ranchers, and others during 52 USDA farm bill forums across the nation, and via e-mail and the Internet.

The proposals represent the final phase of a nearly two-year process. To access the full 183-page document or to access the proposals by title, go to www.usda.gov/farmbill.

CONTACT US: rrobinson@LNPnews.com or 481-6032