House Panel Oks Crp Extension Plan

Over the Clinton administration’s objection, a House panel approved legislation Thursday to allow farmland in winter wheat areas to remain in a conservation program for one more year.

Moments before the House Agriculture Committee unanimously approved the bill, a letter from Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman was delivered to the panel announcing the administration’s opposition.

Glickman said up to 16 million acres could be eligible for the one-year Conservation Reserve Program contracts under the bill, while only about 3 million acres of new, more environmentally sensitive land could be enrolled.

The bill’s main sponsor, Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith, said the measure is a temporary fix to permit farmers who plant wheat, barley and oats in the fall enough time to prepare their land for crops if the Agriculture Department rejects the acreage under new CRP guidelines.

“This bill does not harm the current CRP program,” said Smith, R-Ore. “We don’t want to create a new priority. This is a technical remedy to a specific problem.”