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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Thursday, May 25, 2023
USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service will spend $8 million for carbon measurement and monitoring on agricultural lands through partnerships with four institutions.
The chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service expressed confidence that the agency could hire the staff it needs to handle a sharp increase in climate-related funding, despite many applicants for soil conservationist positions lacking a key job requirement – a class in soil science.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is updating the processes for its Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) around appraisals, land surveys and certifying eligible entities that help NRCS and producers enroll land into easements.
Senate Ag Committee members used a hearing on farm bill conservation programs Wednesday to examine the Conservation Reserve Program more deeply as Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux touted his "working lands" approach to the program.
Thousands of producers hoping to implement more conservation practices on their farms are lining up for government assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives and Conservation Stewardship programs, as the Agriculture Department touts the promises of climate-smart agriculture as a mitigator of climate change. But these programs, despite their billion dollar budgets, aren’t equipped to deal with this demand, forcing the agency to turn away the majority of applicants.
Producers, lawmakers, and administration staffers all agree on the benefits of the technical assistance provided by Agriculture Department conservation officials. The only issue is getting the funding – and the people – to make it happen.
The Supreme Court is expected to announce today whether it will hear a challenge to California’s Proposition 12, which sets standards for pork or veal that comes from animals without a minimum amount of space.
The Department of Agriculture is making available $225 million for public-private partnerships aimed at conservation projects, with an eye on climate change mitigation, supporting urban agriculture and helping historically underserved producers.
A private-lands project that aims to improve conditions for threatened coho salmon in California is getting an $8 million boost from the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
A veteran senior Senate staffer, Fitzhugh Elder, will be taking over as GOP staff director for the Senate Agriculture Committee next month, sources tell Agri-Pulse. He will replace Martha Scott Poindexter, who’s moving to the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
