Without Increased Staff and Pesticide Limits, USDA’s Regenerative Ag Initiative Falls Short

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Trump administration announced a new “Regenerative Agriculture Initiative” that will put $700 million of funding towards regenerative agriculture programs. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services jointly announced the initiative and billed it as part of their “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. The money will be directed into two existing programs – the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) – that pay farmers to implement conservation practices on their farms. Earlier this year, however, the Trump administration cortar billions of dollars of funding that was similarly allocated to helping farmers adopt regenerative practices, as well as more than 1,000 critical staff at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). 

En respuesta al anuncio, Sarah Starman, Senior Food & Agriculture Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, Emitió la siguiente declaración: 

The USDA’s new Regenerative Agriculture Initiative is a step in the right direction and we applaud the intent. But it will only be effective if USDA reverses the past year of massive cuts to on-the-ground conservation staff. Regenerative agriculture requires whole-farm, science-based planning, and right now the agency lacks the army of specialists needed to help farmers design and implement those plans. 

In addition, phasing out harmful agrochemicals – the synthetic pesticides and fertilizers that harm human health and degrade soil health – must be at the center of any regenerative program. The new initiative’s incentives for Integrated Pest Management fall far short of what is needed to help farmers get off the pesticide treadmill and spur a transition to a truly regenerative food system. The initiative must be updated to include specific, measurable incentives for deep reductions in agrochemical use if it is to deliver truly healthy, resilient soils and promote human health. 

Finally, going forward, all major farm subsidies should carry strong conservation compliance requirements so that every public dollar supporting agriculture also supports soil health, water quality, and climate resilience on every acre.”

Fondo

The definition of regenerative agriculture is open to debate. Like the term sustainable, some definitions are robust while others are weak or even meaningless. Regenerative agriculture has been broadly described as a holistic farming approach that challenges the status quo of conventional agriculture and its degenerative impacts on the environment and human health. Robust approaches to regenerative agriculture prioritize protection of soil health and biodiversity to achieve resilience, water conservation, and carbon sequestration. Additionally, meaningful approaches include reduction or elimination of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers as a central tenet and result in improved ecological, social, economic, and human health outcomes, including long-term food security. 

A leading form of truly regenerative agriculture is organic farming. Organic is a voluntary program that farmers and food manufacturers can opt into, and unlike the term ‘regenerative,’ the USDA organic seal is enforced through a rigorous legal standard. Decades of research shows that organic farms, on average, improve soil health, climate resilience, and soil carbon sequestration; reduce emissions; and protect biodiversity, human health, and community wellbeing. Organic farming prohibits synthetic fertilizers and more than 900 synthetic pesticides otherwise allowed in agriculture. Organic food is also free of dozens of harmful food additives, like synthetic food dyes and 450 drugs otherwise allowed in livestock production, including all antibiotics and artificial growth hormones.

Contacto experto: Sarah Starman, 734-657-5251, [email protected]
Contacto de comunicaciones: Lindsay Tice, 202-783-7400, ext. 8403