The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee will take testimony this week on conservation programs, a target of potentially deep cuts from the Trump administration.
Agriculture and conservation organizations are set to appear at the hearing, the first on the programs since the administration began slashing the Agriculture Department’s workforce and said it would seek to eliminate discretionary spending on the technical assistance the programs provide farmers.
At the same time, the hearing could indicate how those moves are being received by panel Republicans as work resumes toward a five-year farm bill.
Conservation programs account for around $58 billion in mandatory spending stretched over a decade, according to the Congressional Research Service. The Conservation Stewardship Program, the Conservation Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program are among the biggest.
