In response to the Budget Control Act of 2011, the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry recommended to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction a reduction of $23 billion across all U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs over the next 10 years, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

Despite the fact that USDA conservation programs were cut by more than $3 billion over the past five years, it is difficult to imagine that they will escape the next round of budget cuts. The agriculture committees promised to provide, by November 1, more specifics about how funding cuts might be distributed across various the USDA programs. Veterans observers and prime movers of past Farm Bill negotiations believe that these recommendations likely will provide the framework for conservation provisions in the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill. (pmr)