![Three generations of women farming in a high tunnel.](https://natureconservancy-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/mheim_TNCFB_NC-1566.jpg?crop=0%2C343%2C3000%2C1312&wid=1280&hei=560&scl=2.34375)
The Martin Family Three generations of women farming in a high tunnel. © Morgan Heim
The Farm Bill
Learn how the Farm Bill helps advance conservation around the United States.
Learn MoreHarvesting Hope is a story series that highlights individual ranchers, farmers and forest landowners in the United States who benefit from the Farm Bill. This federal legislation is the largest investment in the conservation, restoration and management of private land in the U.S. The Farm Bill is one example of how policy makes conservation possible.
The Hauser Family
As a farmer in Camp Verde, Ariz., between the rapidly growing cities of Phoenix and Sedona, two things are always top of mind for Claudia Hauser: water and development.
Thanks to the Farm Bill, Hauser was able to permanently protect her family’s farm from any future development. She also was able to switch to growing a less water-needy crop (barley) in her water-scarce state. These changes didn’t just help her family. They also helped protect endangered fish species and provide drinking water to the two million people living downstream from her farm.
Quote: Claudia Hauser
![Person laughing standing outside.](https://natureconservancy-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/mheim_TNCFarmBill_Arizona--11.jpg?crop=0%2C62%2C3000%2C1875&wid=640&hei=400&scl=4.6875)
It's what we would consider a forever farm. So the way it looks now, it will look the same in 50 years, 200 years, 500 years.
The Hatcher Family
Severe drought and a prairie dog invasion left Treg Hatcher on the verge of selling his family ranch in Syracuse, Kan. He felt like all he was growing was dirt. In a last-ditch effort to save the ranch, he turned to a Farm Bill program that provides money and training to people who want to be better stewards of the land. For Hatcher, that meant doing more rotational grazing, which is much gentler on the land than traditional cattle ranching. More importantly, it meant he and his three sons could continue doing what they have all done since they were kids: ranching.
Quote: Treg Hatcher
The EQIP program was life-changing. I felt hopeful again. It helped me get out of a bad situation.
![Person looks off into the distance at sunset.](https://natureconservancy-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/morganheim_TNCFarmBill_Hatchers-7.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C2000%2C1250&wid=640&hei=400&scl=3.125)
The Saloom Family
Salem Saloom has been interested in forestry since 1983, when he first bought land in his hometown of Evergreen, Ala. But after Hurricane Ivan decimated his tree farm in 2004, he enrolled in a Farm Bill program that provided resources to help replant his land with longleaf pine, a native tree species that is more resilient to wind from hurricanes.
Since then, he’s been able to plant over 1,000 acres of longleaf pine, creating a healthier forest and more wildlife habitat that will continue for generations.
Quote: Salem Saloom
![Person looks out over land at sunset.](https://natureconservancy-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/FarmBill_Alabama_Saloom-7586.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C2500%2C1562&wid=640&hei=400&scl=3.90625)
The Farm Bill program has increased the scale of what we’ve done. It’s kept us interested in doing more. It’s given value, not only to our land, but to us as landowners.
Read the Saloom Family's Story
See how the Farm Bill provided life-changing support for the Saloom family tree farm
Read NowThe Martin Family
![person farming in high tunnel.](https://natureconservancy-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/mheim_TNCFB_NC-2068.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1875&wid=640&hei=400&scl=4.6875)
Carrie Martin and her daughter, Erin Martin, farm seven acres on their 140-year-old family farm in Mt. Olive, N.C. They understand that surviving as a small-scale farmer is no easy task.
When Carrie decided to build a new high tunnel on their farm, she turned to the Farm Bill for help. While Carrie is grateful for the Farm Bill’s financial assistance, as a small family operation, coming up with the remaining funds to complete the high tunnel was a challenge. In her opinion, it’s just one example of how the Farm Bill could do more to support small-scale farmers.
Quote: Carrie Martin
Land is the only asset that if you take care of it, it will take care of you.
![Woman ties up tomato plants on string.](https://natureconservancy-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/mheim_TNCFB_NC-1781.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1875&wid=640&hei=400&scl=4.6875)