Livestock Production and Water Quality: Interest Groups, investments, and implementation of USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program

Grazing and animal feeding operations are among the top sources of impairment to water quality in the U.S. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a working lands conservation program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is the most significant non-regulatory tool used to encourage adoption of practices that mitigate the impact of livestock production on water resources. Environmental and sustainable agriculture groups suggest that the program may not effectively target water quality issues on U.S. livestock farms.;This dissertation uses novel data and an interdisciplinary approach to understand the relevant politics, investments, and implementation of EQIP with a focus on livestock and water quality issues. The first article uses empirical evidence from a content analysis for the 1996 and 2002 farm bills to describe how the structure of the policy network evolved throughout policymaking for EQIP. The article concludes that trade associations representing livestock interests and key legislators became dominant policy actors in the EQIP policy network. The article also shows that public interests, primarily sustainable agriculture and environmental NGOs, had limited access to the legislative venue. New Clean Water Act regulations for large livestock producers are discussed as a key driver for the policy change.;The second and third articles used EQIP data from USDA's Protracts database. The second article characterizes and compares FY1997-2008 EQIP payments for practices that target water quality across confined and unconfined production within the livestock industry. The research shows that practices associated with intensive, confined animal production, in particular waste storage facilities, dominated EQIP support for the dairy, swine and poultry sectors.;The third article describes the process by which EQIP funding decisions are made. Key findings reveal that EQIP intrastate allocation is highly subjective, complex and variable which, in some cases, may have resulted in suboptimal program delivery for water quality projects. Standardization of the funding process is discussed as a way to improve program efficiency.;This dissertation concludes that EQIP could be improved through: (1) fully engaging sustainable agriculture advocates in policy decisions, (2) diversifying program funding toward more sustainable livestock production systems, and (3) revamping its intrastate allocation process.