The Bush Administration recently unveiled its proposed FY 2004 budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The budget proposal calls for record spending on farm conservation measures, food safety protection, and nutrition and food assistance programs. In total, President Bush seeks $74 billion for USDA programs and services, a request that tops the previous year's budget by $1.4 billion (2%) and exceeds the FY 2001 budget by $5.4 billion (8%).

"This budget reflects this Administration's continued commitment to strong conservation practices to help farmers, protection of our food supply and ensuring strong nutrition programs for a healthier America," says Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman. "We have seen USDA's budget grow by 8% since this Administration came to office, representing a strong record and commitment to farmers and ranchers, trade expansion and rural development."

According to Veneman, the budget proposal backs the Department's 5-year strategic plan and supports the objectives detailed in the Administration's policy book, Food and Agriculture Policy: Taking Stock for a New Century. Here are the key parts of the proposal:

Securing our Food Supply

The budget includes record funding—$899 million—for USDA's Food Safety Inspection System (FSIS) meat and poultry food safety programs. This proposal represents a nearly $42 million increase from the previous year's budget and a 15% growth in food safety program funding since FY 2001. The money will allow the Department to employ 80 more food safety inspectors, bringing the total number to 7,680 inspectors. The funding will also support specialized training for the inspectors, improve microbiological testing and sampling, bolster foreign surveillance programs and enhance public education efforts.

The budget also seeks more money for homeland security and agricultural protection programs, asking for nearly $47 million in new funding. With this money, the Administration aims to improve laboratory security measures, pursue research on emerging animal diseases, create new vaccines, develop new bio-security database systems and continue building the unified Federal-State Diagnostic Network for recognizing and responding to high risk pathogens.

Supporting the 2002 Farm Bill

With this budget, the Administration also seeks to continue implementing the 2002 Farm Bill, which includes record funding increases for conservation and protecting natural resources. The Administration is requesting nearly $3.9 billion for Farm Bill conservation programs, up from $2.2 billion in FY 2001. Part of the program funding—$432 million—will go to conservation technical assistance to help implement the Farm Bill.

The programs under the Farm Bill include the Conservation Reserve Program, the Farmland Protection Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program, among others.

Strengthening a Food and Nutrition Safety Net

The nutrition safety net is also a top priority in the FY 2004 budget, which is seeking an unprecedented $42.9 billion for domestic food assistance programs, $1.7 billion more than the previous year's budget.

The funding will benefit an estimated 21.6 million food stamp participants, a historic high of 7.8 million low-income participants of Women Infants and Children (WIC), and an average of 29 million school children each day in the School Lunch program. The budget also incorporates a $2 billion contingency reserve for food stamps and a $150 million contingency reserve for WIC, in case program participants unexpectedly increase in number.

Backing Agricultural Trade and International Food Assistance Programs

The budget proposal also includes $6.2 billion for promoting exports and developing foreign markets. This is an increase of $961 million since FY 2001. Part of that money will go to USDA's market development programs, including the Market Access and Cooperator Programs. The budget also sets up a new, $6.6 million centralized fund to address major trade issues, compliance monitoring, dispute resolution and biotechnology activities conducted by the Department. Nearly $1.6 billion is earmarked for U.S. foreign food assistance activities.

Boosting Housing Opportunities and Investment in Rural America

The Administration is seeking $11.9 billion for rural development programs. The proposal backs the president's homeownership initiative, chiefly for minority families with a 50% increase for single family housing. Nearly $4.1 billion will go to direct and guaranteed Section 502 single family housing loans, up from roughly $2.8 billion for FY 2003. The budget aims to offer 49,000 new homeownership opportunities to low- and moderate- income families in rural areas. It also wants to help rural telecommunications providers, proposing $196 million for broadband loans and loan guarantees.

Reinforcing Forest Health and Firefighting Capabilities

Under the proposal, U.S. Forest Service programs will receive $4.9 billion. This represents the highest budget ever proposed for fire suppression. The budget supports the president's Healthy Forests Initiative, which aims to substantially boost efforts to ensure forest health. The National Fire Plan and the Forest Legacy Program will also receive more funding under the program. While the former is budgeted at $1.57 billion, the latter is funded at $91 million.

Enhancing Departmental Services and Systems

Backing the Department's strategic plan, the budget seeks to fund several management initiatives to better deploy computer systems and technology so employees and customers can efficiently carry out and receive services. The budget allocates $178 million to updating technology in the Department's County Service Centers. Most of the funding boost will go to the implementation of Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies in these offices, letting farmers and ranchers enjoy greater access to satellite mapping and planting information. These service centers, which are located throughout the country, are the places where producers and others avail of vital USDA programs and services.

Sources: Agriculture Budget Proposes Record Spending for Conservation, Food Safety, Nutrition and Food Assistance Programs
USDA News Release, Feb. 3, 2002
http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/02/0040.htm