Proposed Farm Bill Could Cut Near-Term Funding for EQIP

Key Takeaways

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) could lose $1 billion in budget authority over four years under the House GOP farm bill draft.
Funding allocated to EQIP will instead support other conservation programs, leading to cuts despite a proposed increase in the program’s budget.
Expert analysts have expressed concern over these reductions, highlighting EQIP’s popularity and history of oversubscription.

Funding Changes in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program

The House Agriculture Committee’s GOP farm bill draft suggests significant funding reductions for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a key conservation initiative. According to calculations by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), EQIP stands to lose about $1 billion in budget authority over the next four fiscal years.

Initially, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), EQIP was set to receive a budget authority increase to $2.85 billion by fiscal 2027. However, the new draft proposes a reduced figure of $2.53 billion for that year, with gradual adjustments leading to a budget cap of $3.2 billion by fiscal year 2031. This timeline represents a delay compared to the earlier established fiscal target of 2028.

The anticipated budget cuts involve reductions of $325 million in FY27, $495 million in FY28, $118 million in FY29, and $75 million in FY30 when accounting for budget sequestration. While a GOP committee aide confirmed that funding from EQIP would be redirected to support other conservation programs, they noted that this adjustment still reflects a $1.5 billion increase over what was proposed in the 2024 farm bill draft, which constitutes a 54% increase in baseline funds.

Concerns about the cuts have been raised by experts, including Jonathan Coppess, a professor at the University of Illinois. He deemed the decision to reduce EQIP funding as “shocking,” considering the program’s recent history of oversubscription, where demand for funds greatly exceeds available resources. Coppess remarked, “Given this is one of the most oversubscribed programs in the conservation space, it’s a strange one to cut.”

Similarly, Rebecca Bartels, executive director of Invest In Our Land, echoed this sentiment. She emphasized the need for any reallocated funding to support other equally effective conservation programs for farmers in the field.

In addition to the amendments affecting EQIP, the draft proposal outlines other funding changes. A new Forest Conservation Easement Program would receive $227 million through 2031, adjusted for sequestration. The bill also plans to increase funding by $11 million for farm management incentive payments, $47 million for transition options for specific farmers, and $68 million through 2036 for Agricultural Conservation Easement program adjusted gross income limits, as per CBO estimates.

Despite the proposed reductions, stakeholders are hopeful that the reallocation of funds will lead to beneficial outcomes for conservation efforts, although concerns remain about the potential impacts on EQIP, a program long regarded as critical for farmers and land conservation alike.

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