WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler (both D-Calif.), along with Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and a bipartisan group of 13 other Senate colleagues, called on U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry leaders to address long-term drought in the upcoming Farm Bill.

As the American West continues to recover from a historic megadrought, it is critical that the Farm Bill prioritizes addressing long-term drought, including through tools to conserve water, improve watershed scale planning, upgrade water infrastructure, protect land from erosion, and create long-term resiliency on changing landscapes for growers in drought-affected regions. According to the first snow survey of the year, California remains in a historic snow drought — state officials found just 7.5 inches of snowpack where they measured five feet of snow just last year.

“Agriculture is the economic backbone for rural communities in our states. However, severe, long-term drought is devastating these rural areas. During periods of droughts, our farmers and ranchers face diminishing crop and livestock outputs. These negative effects reverberate through the community, affecting not just individual producers, but the broader local economy and food system,” wrote the Senators. 

“We urge the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee under your leadership to consider these risks as you draft the upcoming Farm Bill. The farmers and ranchers in our states are counting on a multi-year Farm Bill that provides support to conserve water, improve watershed scale planning, upgrade water infrastructure, protect land from erosion, and create long-term resiliency on changing landscapes for growers in drought-affected regions,” continued the Senators. 

In addition to Padilla, Butler, Bennet and Fischer, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), James E. Risch (R-Idaho), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) also signed the letter.

Senator Padilla previously joined a bipartisan group of 14 Western Senators in urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that its programs are funded and administered to more effectively address the historic drought conditions throughout California and the Western United States. He and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein also called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to ensure that the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) supports conservation practices that mitigate the impacts of drought while combating climate change. Additionally, Padilla secured a historic $20 billion to incentivize climate smart agriculture and $4 billion for drought resiliency in the Inflation Reduction Act to stabilize water supplies from the Salton Sea to the Colorado River. 

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Chair Stabenow and Ranking Member Boozman:

We write to you regarding the importance of addressing long-term drought in the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization. Drought remains a severe risk for American farmers and ranchers and threatens farmland and local economies that rely on dwindling water resources. We must ensure that any multi-year Farm Bill adequately addresses the heightened production risks posed by a hotter, drier future, particularly in states West of the 100th meridian.

Agriculture is the economic backbone for rural communities in our states. However, severe, long-term drought is devastating these rural areas. During periods of droughts, our farmers and ranchers face diminishing crop and livestock outputs. These negative effects reverberate through the community, affecting not just individual producers, but the broader local economy and food system. 

A changing climate has further altered the natural pattern of droughts, making them more frequent, longer, and more severe. Since 2000, the Western United States has experienced some of the driest conditions on record and the American Southwest, in particular, continues to suffer an unprecedented period of extreme drought. These conditions have altered the landscape and have had a lasting effect on all those who rely on the land. This urgently requires Congress to invest in water and agricultural resilience. While drought conditions eased in many states this year, we cannot become complacent when our farmers and ranchers are in severe need of an appropriate drought safety net that ensures their long-term resiliency.

We urge the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee under your leadership to consider these risks as you draft the upcoming Farm Bill. The farmers and ranchers in our states are counting on a multi-year Farm Bill that provides support to conserve water, improve watershed scale planning, upgrade water infrastructure, protect land from erosion, and create long-term resiliency on changing landscapes for growers in drought-affected regions. 

We look forward to continuing our partnership to address these issues. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and we look forward to hearing from you on these topics.

Sincerely,

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