A move by Congress to pay for disaster aid by cutting one-third of the money authorized for a farmland conservation program should not immediately affect the handful of North Dakota farmers who have Conservation Security Program contracts, officials say.

However, if the funding authorization is not restored, it might affect future contracts, said Jennifer Heglund, assistant state conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The program approved in the 2002 Farm Bill and implemented last summer helps producers pay the cost of using environmentally friendly practices to manage soil, water, nutrients and pesticides. Farmers and ranchers in 22 states last July vied for a total of $41.4 million in contracts.

The Lower Yellowstone Watershed in western North Dakota and eastern Montana was one of 18 nationwide deemed eligible for the program this year. Heglund said five contracts totaling slightly more than $51,000 were awarded to five North Dakota farmers. All of the contracts were for multiple years, she said.

Most of the watershed is in Montana. A total of 49 contracts were awarded, totaling about $873,500.

"Many of the producers that did get a contract received advance payments for next year's funding cycle," Heglund said. "If they didn't, I believe that they would have first dibs on the money that comes forward for the next fiscal year."

The $14.5 billion disaster bill that Congress has sent to President Bush to help hurricane victims and others includes $2.9 billion for farmers and ranchers hurt by drought. The drought money, which is not deemed emergency spending, must be offset by cuts in other programs. Congress reduced the 10-year spending authority for the Conservation Security Program from $9 billion to $6 billion to meet the requirement.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said between $200 million and $240 million of the disaster aid likely will go to North Dakota producers once Bush signs the bill. North Dakota State University estimates net crop losses in the state this year because of weather problems at $329 million.

"Obviously, we wanted to get the disaster aid, and the only way we could get it through the majority party here was to have them use that conservation money," Dorgan said. "We believe there's an obligation to restore that money."