Berthoud farmer joins effort to maintain federal program
Congress is considering cutting $20 billion from conservation programs available to American farmers, and farmers and ranchers across the country, including Northern Colorado, are coordinating to push legislators to change course.
According to Invest in our Land spokesperson Joe Hack, whose organization is spearheading the effort, House Committee on Agriculture Chair Derek Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, has indicated that those conservation funds could be reallocated through negotiations over an upcoming farm bill, imperiling programs that Hack and agricultural producers like Berthoud farmer Larry Lempka argue are crucial for farms to stay afloat while also helping maintain clean air and soil.
“Part of what we’re trying to do is raise awareness of what’s coming down the pike,” Hack said Friday. “But also we want to raise and elevate the voices of the producers who are taking advantage of the program, and share what success stories they have.”
One of those success stories is Lempka, who raises primarily cattle on 100 acres on the outskirts of Berthoud.
Lempka has used conservation funds from the
United States Department of Agriculture to power his irrigation, including using an array of solar panels atop his barn, without drawing electricity from elsewhere.
“My goal was to get to the point where we weren’t pulling power off the grid,” he said. “Now we’re pushing it back the other way.”
He’s considering taking his message to Washington, D.C., to pressure lawmakers to reconsider.
According to Hack, many of the investments in land quality would be not be financially feasible for most farmers, especially small family farms like Lempka’s, but improve the quality of the land.
“It’s got two benefits obviously, right?” Hack said. “One is the economic benefit. The producers, their livelihood is directly tied to the health of the land, which is why they’re such important stewards of the land. But the second of course is environmental.
“Healthier land, good land management practices and investing in things like clean water infrastructure, making sure that water is properly managed. Those are all things that producers don’t have extra resources to invest in, and these programs allow them to do that.”
Lempka has other ideas for the funds as well. He points to a ditch that provides water for irrigation via a pump on his property, where algae blooms float on top of the still water.
“We’re not very far into the growing season and we already have moss,” he said. “That’s one of the things that we’ve got to look at. They’re telling me that we’re having nitrogen moving from the feedlots up into Rocky Mountain National Park, which is causing nitrification of the snow, and because of that we’re seeing more nitrogen not only in our drinking water but also our irrigation water, and that’s where this moss is coming from. But again, that’s what this funding can do, we can find out what’s happening and do something about it.”
According to Hack, these programs are tremendously popular, to the point where, even with $20 billion, 73% of applicants were denied even though they qualified, simply because there was not enough funding to go around.
“There’s a lot of opportunities,” Lempka said as he looked out over a herd of his cattle relaxing in the spring sun.
“There’s so many aspects of what this money does that are so instrumental. I have neighbors that say, ‘Oh that’s a government handout, I don’t want to use that.’ When does arrogance and pride become ignorance? The government’s here to help. Take advantage of it. Keep it in your family, keep it going, keep your history here.”