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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
For nearly four decades, the federal government has protected environmentally sensitive farmland through a simple bargain with farmers known as “conservation compliance.” If they want to receive farm program benefits, growers can’t plow up wetlands, and they must take steps to protect highly erodible acreage.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has filled several key staff positions, naming a new director of intergovernmental affairs and a staff director for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
President Joe Biden’s budget request for fiscal 2025 proposes new loan flexibilities for farmers and makes another stab at getting Congress to make permanent a $5-an-acre subsidy for cover crops while also boosting ag research and other climate-related spending.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service should see 1,600 new employees by early this fall after being granted direct hiring authority last week, NRCS Chief Terry Cosby told Agri-Pulse Thursday.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service will have to come up with a new rule explaining how it plans to determine whether farmers have wetlands on their property, after a federal judge tossed a 2020 rule in response to a lawsuit from the National Wildlife Federation.
States are trying to meet land conservation goals and protect agricultural acreage, but securing enough money – and enough land to do that has been difficult across the country.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is releasing $1 million from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help farmers in California recover from damage caused by last month’s flooding.
Supporters of the Inflation Reduction Act’s conservation funding are determined to protect it from attempts to shift some of the money into other farm programs.
