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Every day new policy proposals or ideas continue to take shape on how to incentivize and encourage adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices. And the momentum continues to snowball for additional money and resources to help, but there’s also the fine line of ensuring actions don’t do more harm than good.
One major movement came this week in the Senate with the Senate Agriculture Committee offering unanimous consent for its Growing Climate Solutions Act, which has broad bipartisan support and 42 co-sponsors. Over 70 agricultural and environmental groups support the bill. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., chair of the House Agriculture Committee’s Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee, and Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced the bill in the House.
Troubled by farmers’ and landowners’ lack of enthusiasm for enrolling land in the Conservation Reserve Program, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA will open enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with higher payment rates, new incentives, and a more targeted focus on the program’s role in climate change mitigation.
Vilsack announced the changes at a meeting of the National Climate Task Force, and the White House in turn highlighted the announcement in a readout of the task force meeting. (For a broader look at the task force meeting, see top story.)
Vilsack also announced investments in partnerships to increase climate-smart agriculture, including $330 million in 85 Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects and $25 million for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials.
Pierre, SD, USA / DRGNews
Apr 22, 2021 9:37 AM
United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA will open enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with higher payment rates, new incentives, and a more targeted focus on the program’s role in climate change mitigation. Additionally, USDA is announcing investments in partnerships to increase climate-smart agriculture, including $330 million in 85 Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects and $25 million for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials. Secretary Vilsack made the announcement today at the White House National Climate Task Force meeting to demonstrate USDA’s commitment to putting American agriculture and forestry at the center of climate-smart solutions to address climate change.
USDA
Diverse plant communities attract many species of prairie wildlife in acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Additional 4 million acres targeted with higher rental rates and climate incentive payments.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced several changes to the Conservation Reserve Program to incentivize participation, including adjusting rental rates with a focus on highly erodible lands and introducing a variety of incentive payments, including a climate incentive payment.
Vilsack previously discussed how CRP participation was lacking from the funding allocated under the last farm bill. He hopes to bridge that shortfall by enrolling up to 4 million new acres in CRP by raising rental payment rates and expanding the number of incentivized environmental practices allowed under the program.