News
CRP, conservation programs kick off farm bill hearings
Lawmakers have begun work on the next farm bill.
As the House Ag Committee considers the legislation, Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux discussed changes made last year to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). “We adjusted soil rental rates where data supported such an adjustment, increased payments for practice incentives, increased payments for water quality practices,” he said. “We also added the climate-smart practice incentive for CRP general and continuous signups to better leverage this program towards climate outcomes including carbons sequestration.”
He says producers enrolled 5.3 million acres into CRP, which surpassed FSA’s goal of 4 million acres after four straight years of declining enrollment.
Ducheneaux says adjustments to soil rental rates and CRP grasslands helped drive interest. “Every additional acre we enroll in CRP is another choice a producer has to be an economic player in the global climate change mitigation effort.”
Natural Resources Conservation Services Chief Terry Cosby also testified at Wednesday’s subcommittee hearing on a review of farm bill conservation programs.
