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42 <br />1 The AFT has also prepared a series of fact sheets, one on each of the fourteen Farm Bill Titles <br />2 listed below.24 Funding for the 2008 Farm Bill is still under consideration. Programs in forestry <br />3 and conservation may be of particular interest Orange County's conventional farmers looking for <br />4 new ways to make their land profitable. <br />5 <br />Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 Farm Bill Titles <br />• Title I Commodity Programs Title VIII Forestry <br />• Title II Conservation Title IX Energy <br />• Title III Trade Title X Horticulture and Organic Agriculture <br />• Title IV Nutrition Title XI Livestock <br />• Title V Credit Title XII Crop Insurance <br />• Title VI Rural Development Title XIII Commodity Futures <br />• Title VII Research Title XIV Miscellaneous <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 A number of other programs are already available to local farmers. The following list includes <br />9 some of the voluntary federal programs that are administered by the Natural Resources <br />10 Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Services Agency (FSA) of the United States Department <br />11 of Agriculture (USDA) support staff. They are designed to compensate farmland owners for the <br />12 conservation value of their land. Like local conservation easement programs, they have the <br />13 dual effect of safeguarding the environmental benefits of farmland as open space while <br />14 injecting dollars into the local economy via the farmland owner.~s <br />15 1. Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program IFRPP). The Farm and Ranch Lands <br />16 Protection Program provides federal funds to help purchase development rights, keeping <br />17 productive farmland in agricultural use while compensating the farmland owner for the <br />18 conservation value of his or her land. The FRPP program matches state and local <br />19 agricultural conservation easement programs up to 50% of the easement purchase <br />20 price, working through state, tribal and local governments and land trusts. Orange <br />21 County has received $2.3 million in grants from FRPP since 2002 for the acquisition of <br />22 10 easements. <br />23 <br />24 2. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP. The Conservation Reserve Program reduces soil <br />25 erosion, protects the nation's ability to produce food and fiber, reduces sedimentation in <br />26 streams and lakes, improves water quality, establishes wildlife habitat, and enhances <br />27 forest and wetland resources. It encourages farmers to convert highly erodible cropland <br />28 or other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover, such as tame or native <br />29 grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filter strips, or riparian buffers. Farmers receive an <br />30 annual rental payment for the term of the multi-year contract. Orange County farmers <br />31 have received $57,471 during the last four years from this program. <br />32 <br />za www.farmland orgLprograms/farm-bill/analysis & htt~://agriculture.house gov/inside/FarmBill html . <br />~ For more program information and legislative authority, see <br />www.nres usda gov/programs/farmbill/2002 <br />Draft 11/09/2009 Opportunities for Enhancing Agriculture in Orange County 31 <br />