Baking & Snack - September 2008 - 14

ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION | ANNE GIESECKE

Farm Bill

FATIGUE

Water quality and energy impact bakers and snack manufacturers.

he baker and snack food manufacturer have two basic environmental
interests in the Farm Bill recently
passed into law - water and energy.
These elements are key to the production
of food from both the growers' and the
processors' perspectives.
WATER QUALITY. Inside a plant, clean water is a critical ingredient and is necessary
for processing and cleanup for bakers and
snack food manufacturers. Water is increasing in cost to purchase and to discharge.
Enhancement of the water supply is in the
interest of all.
The water quality component of the Farm
Bill is most recognizable in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The program
has a long history, and its current primary
purpose is preserving and improving water
quality and availability.
CRP land often has high potential for
erosion, flooding or is in dry areas. CRP
land, and much of the land in the affiliated programs, forms buffers along stream
and river beds, arroyos, lakes, ponds and
wetlands. The land buffers the water from
agricultural run off.
Land in the CRP that does not fit the
current criteria is estimated to be between
1 million and 10 million acres of the authorized 34.6 million acres. The current law
authorizes 32 million acres and increases
total spending by $7.9 billion. Indeed, land
that does not meet current criteria should
be reallocated to other uses, and areas that
meet the criteria should be included.
Other water programs include the Wetlands Reserve Program, Environmental
Quality Incentives Program, Conservation
Security Program, Chesapeake Bay Region
BAKING & SNACK / September 2008

and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.
The protected waterways are biocorridors providing habitat for plants and animals. This land/water system can maintain
the biodiversity of a healthy habitat. The
recreational and environmental benefits are
supported by many public and private sector efforts. Bruce Babbitt, former secretary
of the interior and current director of the
World Wildlife Fund, has suggested that
preserving as little of 2% of the nation's
agricultural land, which is land along waterways, could significantly improve water
quality and aid biodiversity.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Energy provisions in the Farm Bill focus on investing in
renewable energy programs. The law provides $1 billion to fund programs that will
leverage renewable energy industry investments in new technologies and feedstocks.
Nearly $320 million is in loan guarantees
for biorefineries producing biofuels, and
$35 million is to reduce their fossil fuel use.
And $300 million is for a bioenergy program using livestock and food processing
waste. The Biomass Crop Assistance Program encourages ethanol production and
provides for multiyear contracts to grow
energy crops. A sugar-to-ethanol program
is established. A federal procurement preference for biobased products is mandated.
And finally, $5 million is to educate owners
of vehicle fleets about biodiesel.
During the next five years, bakers and
snack food manufacturers may see some
benefit from the water management provisions of this Farm Bill, but likely, higher taxes
and energy costs will result from the energy
provisions. Classical economist Adam Smith
would raise a skeptical eyebrow at the bill's

balance between the common good and
artificial government supports.
Since 1933, the Farm Bill has been reauthorized every five years. The previous bill
was the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, which technically expired
in September 2007, but was extended by

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the
brewer or the baker that we
expect our dinner, but from
their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves,
not to their humanity but to
their self-love."
- An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of
the Wealth of Nations [1776], Adam Smith

temporary continuing resolutions until the
new Farm Bill was enacted.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act
of 2008, Public Law 110-246, provides for
the continuation of agricultural and other
programs of the Department of Agriculture
through federal year 2012 (A federal year is
Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.). The law revises agricultural and related programs, including provisions respecting: (1) commodity programs;
(2) conservation; (3) trade; (4) nutrition; (5)
credit; (6) rural development; (7) research
and related matters; (8) forestry; (9) energy;
(10) horticulture and organic agriculture;
(11) livestock; (12) crop insurance and disaster assistance; (13) socially disadvantaged and limited resource producers; and
(14) miscellaneous programs. To research
the law visit http://thomas.loc.gov/.
Ⅲ

http://thomas.loc.gov/

Baking & Snack - September 2008

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