Items Tagged with 'Conservation Reserve Program'

The Agriculture Department on Thursday announced opening dates for continuous and general signups for the Conservation Reserve Program, which has around 1.9 million acres of available space this year.

A new report from an environmental think tank says the Conservation Reserve Program does not fuel long-term population loss and may actually boost rural employment and business activity.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson wants to move legislation this fall to address farm and nutrition programs left out of the budget reconciliation bill.

With authorization of the Conservation Reserve Program set to lapse at the end of the fiscal year, next year’s signups may be at risk.

USDA is launching a new application round for the Conservation Reserve Program under both the General and Continuous signup rules. Dates for a Grasslands CRP signup period will be announced later.

John Thune’s elevation to Senate Republican leader is being welcomed by many ag, biofuel and conservation groups. No Senate majority or minority leader has come to the job with a background in ag and biofuel policy as deep as the South Dakotan’s since, well, Thune unseated then-Democratic leader Tom Daschle in 2004.

In what appears to be a response to claims amplified by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the dangers of modern agriculture, nearly 270 farm groups from across the country are warning leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees about the importance of inputs such as pesticides.

The Conservation Reserve Program is nearing its cap of 27 million acres as USDA’s Farm Service Agency accepts offers for more than 2.2 million acres in the latest grassland, general and continuous signups.

The House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill would boost the federal budget deficit by $33 billion over 10 years, according to an official cost estimate released Friday by the Congressional Budget Office, which refused to change its stance on a budget offset intended to fund changes to commodity programs.