Senator Baucus introduces bill to boost on-farm energy production

Senator Max Baucus is receiving wide support from farm organizations, including the Montana Grain Growers, Montana Wool Growers, Montana Farm Bureau and the Montana Farmers Union, for his recently introduced legislation, which Baucus calls the On-Farm Energy Production Act.

This legislation is described as a new, innovative approach that boosts domestic energy production by providing farmers and ranchers with economic incentives to produce renewable energy "on-farm."

Baucus' bill would amend the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which currently gives agricultural producers incentives for conservation work they do on their lands.

The On-Farm Energy Production Act is a new take on conserving agricultural lands. The bill goes a step further by utilizing these lands to produce renewable, more “environmentally friendly” energy production, encouraging farmers and ranchers to install windmills, solar panels, or biodiesel oilseed presses on their operations.

The federal government would pay approximately 50% of the total costs to add renewable energy production to the farm or ranch, providing a direct benefit to farmers and ranchers, allowing them to cut energy and fuel bills on their operations.

Baucus stresses that this proposal will help the U.S. break its reliance on foreign oil, by creating homegrown alternative energy, while also helping producers reduce their input costs. This bill will go before the Senate Agriculture Committee, of which Baucus is a senior member, and the only member of the Montana delegation to have a seat on the Committee.

The chair of this committee, Senator Tom Harkin, (D-Iowa) has signed his support to the bill. After the Agriculture Committee considers the bill, it goes to the Senate floor.

Please contact Senator Baucus and thank him for his work to create homegrown alternative energy that helps our environment, reduces global warming emissions AND boosts Montana’s agricultural producers and communities!

Senator Jon Tester is forging ahead in his own right with solutions to both address America’s energy crisis, global warming and enhance economic opportunities for agricultural producers. Tester is working to energize the “25x'25” plan, which has garnered the support of more than 400 agricultural, energy, environmental, business and labor groups.

25x'25 is a proposal to bolster the U.S. economy with new technologies and job opportunities, while cutting pollution and reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil, by providing 25% of America's energy supply with renewable resources by the year 2025. Natural renewable resources such as wind, biofuel, and solar power – abundant resources in Montana – are the backbone of the 25x'25 Plan.

We applaud Senator Tester for making alternative, homegrown energy production one of his top priorities in Congress – and we look forward to hearing more of his ideas and proposals, as they develop.

Please contact Senator Jon Tester to thank him for his work already to address the Nation’s alternative energy needs! Ask him to also support Senator Baucus’ legislation, when it comes for a vote on the Senate floor.