The following is a statement by Kameran Onley, Managing Director of North American Policy and Government Relations at The Nature Conservancy, after Congress passed a short-term budget deal to avoid a government shutdown that includes a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill:

“When Congress let the 2018 Farm Bill expire at the end of September, it put the future of the critical conservation work supported by the bill in jeopardy. The Farm Bill is one of the country’s best conservation tools, promoting practices that not only help lead to more robust crop production but also result in cleaner water, carbon sequestration, healthy soils and a host of other benefits. Any gap, however small, puts those benefits at risk.