The vote is on passage of the Agricultural Productivity Act, which authorized $10.5 million over five years to promote ecologically sound farming practices which conserve energy, water and plant nutrients, control soil erosion, and increase productivity without degrading the land. Most of the money would be spent on pilot research projects on farming methods such as crop rotation and biological pest controls. The bill would also help farmers learn to do "intercropping" -- the practice of planting soil conserving crops between rows of cash crops like corn, wheat and soybeans. Finally, the bill would have established an extension program to help farmers understand such farming systems.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has almost no organic farming program. Even with the money in this bill, less than half of one percent of the Agriculture Research Service budget would have been spent on organic farming. Pesticide use has increased tenfold in the last thirty years, but crop losses to insects have doubled as insects grow more resistant to the poisons over time. Organic farming can help farmers break this vicious cycle and protect their lands from nutrient depletion and soil erosion. It also protects public health, by reducing the pesticide residues which are now found in almost everything we eat or drink.

The Agricultural Productivity Act passed 206-184; January 26, 1984. YES is the pro-environmental vote. The Reagan Administration opposed the bill, and it died in the Senate.