09-05-2025
Congress must fund Farm Bill conservation programs to protect local ranches
For close to 40 years, my wife, Sara, and I have practiced holistic management of our ranch near Vinita, Oklahoma. Holistic management means being gentle on our land and livestock, working not through force, but through partnership. We joke that if there was ever yelling during a round-up, it was at each other and not at our animals.
As a rancher in the seventh decade of his life, my thoughts often stray to the legacy I'll leave to my four children and 12 grandchildren. I am motivated by a deep desire to do the right thing by my land and my family. This same desire is why I serve on the boards of both Holistic Management International and the Oklahoma Grazing Lands Coalition.
Just as everything on our ranch works together, from the cattle and wildlife down to the microbes in the soil, agricultural producers cannot do our jobs alone. Over the years, our ranch has been fortunate to receive help from Farm Bill conservation programs. These programs, however, are currently in jeopardy, facing major budget and staffing cuts right at a moment when Oklahoma's family farmers and ranchers are in acute need of support.
The Farm Bill is critical to the care and conservation of working lands such as my family's. For 10 years, the Conservation Stewardship Program has helped to finance our ongoing efforts to return old cropland back to healthy prairie. These pastures, full of diverse grasses, legumes, flowers, forbs and weeds, don't just make for happy cattle. They provide habitat for northern bobwhite quail — creatures whose presence enlivens our ranch — and a host of other wildlife.
For ranchers, healthy land and water often means a healthy wallet. As I have improved management of my pastures, I've been able to eliminate the use of fertilizer, rely on hay to supplement in limited quantities, and only use herbicides strategically to control invasive woody species like red cedar. Our holistic grazing practices, enabled in part by the Conservation Stewardship Program, mean that our cattle have plenty to graze, even in winter.
Research underscores the Farm Bill's value to the economy. According to a recent analysis, the four major Natural Resources Conservation Services programs support nearly 1,000 jobs each year in Oklahoma and drive $32.2 million in total household income. Across the country, these programs support more than 46,000 jobs each year and have a return on investment of $1.58 for every dollar invested.
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Farm Bill programs also ensure that ranches stay ranches, and farms stay farms. Our ranch was recently accepted into the Agricultural Land Easements program, which will permanently protect it from commercial development. ALE gives me peace of mind that my children will be able to continue our family business, which has endured since 1907.
I am far from alone in my gratitude for the Farm Bill. Here in Oklahoma, where roughly 73% of all land is agricultural, applications to Farm Bill programs far exceed available resources. As family farmers and ranchers reel from severe weather and economic turmoil, these programs offer a way to save money, recover after drought and other disasters, and make our operations more resilient for the long term.
I urge Oklahoma's congressional delegation to fully fund Farm Bill conservation programs and pass a new Farm Bill as soon as possible. These commonsense programs support sustainable businesses, thriving rural communities, and flourishing land for children, cattle — and quail.
Jim Shelton is a rancher based near Vinita.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why Congress must fund Farm Bill conservation programs | Opinion
