District Conservationist Talking PointsJune 2007 Farm Bill Timeline Mark-Up. The week of May 21st, House Agriculture Subcommittees began the process known as “mark-up," where the subcommittees consider the issues in detail and make amendments to legislative language.  The Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research did add any amendments to the bill that would increase the budget for the bill, choosing to wait for the full committee to consider these types of changes.  There are many ideas floating around, from combining CSP, EQIP and WHIP into one new program, to stopping CSP sign ups completely.   House and Senate Consideration. The full House Agriculture Committee is expected to work on the complete bill sometime in late June, and then the bill is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives sometime in July. The Senate has an even more ambitious schedule with the full Senate considering the Farm Bill the week of June 18.  The current Farm Bill expires at the end of September, 2007. USDA Reorganization As part of the Farm Bill deliberations within the House Agriculture Committee on May 22, an amendment was brought forward to prescribe assignment of certain conservation programs and services between NRCS and FSA.  The amendment was withdrawn as Committee leadership stated an unwillingness to address reorganization issues in the Farm Bill.  Instead, Committee leaders expressed Chairman Peterson's intention to deliberate any pertinent reorganization issues next year, following consideration of the Farm Bill.  USDA reorganization is not a topic slated for further discussion within the Agriculture Committee's Farm Bill process.     2008 Local FAC Space Agreements Now that local FACs have updated and submitted their FSA 875 space reimbursement agreements, local entities should now have the square footage and associated costs to begin the local budget process.  Market Prices May Affect Conservation Compliance Market prices are enticing farmers to make changes and grow more corn. Producers need to be aware of how changes in rotations and operations can affect conservation compliance.  Before manipulating land that does not have a cropping history (pasture, woodland, wet spots, fencerows, etc.), producers should check to see if the land is subject to Sodbuster or Swampbuster provisions.  It is important to stay in compliance because all USDA benefits, including Conservation Programs, Farm Loan Programs, Disaster Assistance, Commodity Price Supports and Direct and Counter Cyclical Programs are affected by being out of compliance. Cropping and management changes can also affect current conservation program contracts, outside of the conservation compliance issues.  For more information, please see the May 1, 2007 news release at http://www.in.nrcs.usda.gov/news/.