Family Farm Alliance - Important Issues

Over one year has passed since President Bush signed into law a program that would help Western water managers finance the repairs of critically needed water infrastructure. Still, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been stymied in its efforts to implement this program by staff members working for the Office of Budget and Management (OMB). The Family Farm Alliance is leading the charge to make loan guarantees available to Western water users.

Read the disputed OMB memo

Read the Alliance response, supported by 5 other regional and national organizations

Read the Alliance white paper on loan guarantees

Read the CBO report that "scores" the loan guarantee program

The Future of Western Irrigated Agriculture

Food is survival, the sustenance to our health, and our future security. We are rapidly delegating its future to others around the world. Read more ...

The Irrigation "Subsidy" Debate

The Environmental Working Group in 2005 released a report that aims to spotlight agricultural subsidies in advance of the nation's 2007 Farm Bill. Agricultural interests question the report's findings.

Click here to see the 8/3/5 AP article on the EWG Report

Meanwhile, some of these same environmental groups are collecting federal grant money for research and technical work.

Click here to see the December 2005 AP Story.port

The Family Farm Alliance in 1998 worked with Darryll Olsen, Ph.D. of the Pacific Northwest Project in Kennewick, Washington and Houshmand Ziari, Ph.D. of IRZ Consulting in Hermiston, Oregon to prepare a report that asseses the economic benefits associated with Western irrigated agriculture.

Click here for a summary of the report, prepared by the Washington State Water Resources Association.

Click here for the Alliance "Myth vs Fact" Sheet on ag subsidies

Click here for information on why the Bureau of Reclamation adopted its "subsidy" policy.

Click here to read a US Water News Online article about the importance of irrigated agriculture to the economy of Nebraska.

These programs have a long history, and they were established for a reason.

The Growing Demand for Western Water

Urbanization and competition for water supplies are driving Western farmers off the land at a time when American food production in general is following other industries “off-shore” in search of lower costs. Traditional farms and ranches are disappearing, and next year this country will become a net importer of food for the first time in our history.

The U.S. needs a stable domestic food supply, just as it needs a stable energy supply. For farmers to survive; for food to be produced in America; a stable water supply must be available to grow food.

We cannot continue long-term hypothetical processes that focus primarily on continued conservation and downsizing of Western agriculture.

Click here for related news stories.

Aging Infrastructure

Click here to learn more about the latest news and Family Farm Alliance efforts to assist the irrigators served by the St. Mary Faclilities in Montana, which is facing a catastrophic failure after operating for over 85 years with only minor repairs and improvements since its original construction.

Click here to learn more about supply enhancement efforts

Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Response

The Alliance has prepared a comprehensive response to the U.S. Senate request as part of its participation in the April 2005 water conference conducted before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Read the Alliance response (pdf file)