Governors Wind Energy Coalition
Witnesses outline challenges to farm climate plan Source: By Marc Heller, E&E News reporter • Posted: Sunday, March 14, 2021
Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and ranking member John Boozman (R-Ark.) during a hearing yesterday. Francis Chung/E&E News
Lawmakers trying to entice farmers to save carbon in their soil will have to address a challenge if their market-based approach is going to work, witnesses told the Senate Agriculture Committee yesterday: how to recognize farmers who’ve been doing so for years.
Giving early adopters of climate-smart farming a piece of the profits from climate change programs emerged as a key issue at an Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing on climate policy yesterday and no one has quite figured out how to do that.
USDA announced it is accepting Conservation Stewardship Program renewal applications through the end of this month. More than 11,000 contracts are set to end this year.
LYONS, NEBRASKA – For farmers and ranchers eligible to renew for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), a national application deadline of March 31 has been set.
Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), CSP offers technical and financial assistance to help producers enhance conservation on their operations. In 2020, more than 6 million acres nationwide were actively enrolled in the program.
Contracts are five years in length, with the option to renew. Contracts beginning in 2017 are now in their fifth and final year, and are therefore eligible for renewal. The March 31 deadline also applies to those who enrolled in 2015 and extended their contracts through 2021.