Nearly $200 million in Agriculture Earmarks in Senate Bill

Aug 5, 2008 | 2 min read | Print Article

The Senate Appropriations Committee included 307 earmarks worth about $197.2 million in the Fiscal Year 2009 Agriculture Appropriations bill (click here for the database) This represents an reduction of 24% in the cost of earmarks from the 318 earmarks worth $257.4 million in FY Year 2008. The House Appropriations Committee still hasn’t taken up their version of the legislation.

Chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) secured 168 earmarks worth $16.4 million including $950,000 for the Sand County Foundation, which acts as the “caretaker of the [Aldo] Leopold Memorial Reserve” and works to improve “improve the quality of their lands through science, ethics, and incentive,” according to the website.

Ranking member of the committee, Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) also did pretty well for his state. Senator Bennett brought back 14 earmarks worth $16.2 million including $1.1 million for the Jack Berryman Institute, which is based at Utah State University and Mississippi State University and is “dedicated to improving human-wildlife relationships and resolving human-wildlife conflicts through teaching, research, and extension.” Utah State is one of the big winners in the bill, receiving 5 earmarks worth $3.3 million ranging from drought management to botanical research.

Here are some of the other highlights:

$700,000 for Brown Tree Snake Removal and $172,000 for Rodent Control in Hawaii courtesy of senior Appropriations Committee member Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI).
$2.0 million for the Jamie Whitten Delta States Research Center, Stoneville, MS and $3.7 million for National Center for Natural Products Research in Oxford, Mississippi were two of the 30 earmarks worth $27.1 million obtained by Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS).
$270,000 for the Montana Sheep Institute supported by the two Montana Senators, Baucus (D-MT) and Tester (D-MT).
Appropriations Committee Member, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) obtained 20 earmarks worth $8 million including $250,000 for the Midwest poultry consortium, Iowa State University and $405,000 for Agriculture-based industrial lubricants research at the University of Northern Iowa.