USDA Announces Investment in Wildlife Conservation

Dan Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE), Conservation, Environment, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), This Land of Ours, USDA-NRCS

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing in wildlife conservation. That’s coming up on This land of Ours. The USDA this week expanded wildlife conservation investments by $500 million over the next five years. The effort leverages all available conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), through its Working Lands for Wildlife effort. The commitments will ramp up the …

USDA Investing to Expand Measurement and Monitoring of Soil Carbon on Working Agricultural Lands

Dan Environment, Soil, USDA-NRCS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $8 million in four regional partnerships across the nation to support and expand measurement and monitoring of carbon in soil on working agricultural lands and to assess how climate-smart practices are affecting carbon sequestration. Here in the Southeast, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will be working with American Climate Partners on a regional …

Critics View FL Legislation as Potentially Harmful to Wetlands and Everglades Restoration Efforts

Dan Conservation, Environment, Florida, Water

(NSF/TALLAHASSEE, FL/June 15, 2023) — Senate leaders weren’t going to let a year-old outburst aimed at state lawmakers go unaddressed. VoteWater, a Treasure Coast group focused on political issues related to restoring the Everglades, is raising cane over the Senate this spring not confirming the reappointment of South Florida Water Management District Governing Board member Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch. “Few people in …

Conservation Easement Program Sign Up for Florida Landowners Extended through June 30

Dan Conservation, Environment, Florida, Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), USDA-NRCS

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the North Florida Land Trust (NFLT) wants Florida landowners interested in aligning their land uses with conservation values, to know they have additional time to apply for a conservation easement program. The application deadline for fiscal year 2023 funding through this Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) has been extended from its original June 16th deadline to June 30th to allow …

USDA Accepts Over One Million Acres in CRP General Signup

Dan Conservation, Environment, USDA-FSA, USDA-NRCS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced this week it is accepting more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General sign-up. This is one of several signups that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is holding for the program. “This year’s General CRP signup demonstrates the value and continued strength of this voluntary conservation program, which plays an …

Many Agricultural Groups Commend SCOTUS Ruling on WOTUS

Dan Agri-Business, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), Beef, Cattle, Corn, Dairy, Environment, Field Crops, Legislative, Livestock, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), Pork, Regulation, Water

Many agricultural groups are applauding the U.S. Supreme Court for their ruling in the Sackett v. EPA case. The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) President and CEO Daren Coppock issued the following statement: “All of agriculture has been waiting for this ruling on defining Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The Court stated that the wetland under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA) must have ‘a continuous …

DeSantis, Florida Cabinet Sign Off on Land Deals

Dan Beef, Cattle, Conservation, Dairy, Environment, Field Crops, Florida, Nursery Crops, Organic, Specialty Crops

(NSF/TALLAHASSEE, FL/May 23, 2023) — Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet on Tuesday approved spending nearly $100 million on land deals that will secure about 36,000 acres as part of a growing wildlife corridor. The 12 land deals are part of the Florida Forever program and the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. They involve purchasing conservation easements, which …

Regional Conservation Partnership Program Applications Open

Dan Conservation, Environment, Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), USDA-NRCS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) has $500 million in funding available to advance partner-driven solutions to conservation on agricultural land. RCPP leverages a voluntary approach to conservation that expands the reach of conservation efforts and climate-smart agriculture through public-private partnerships. Increased funding for fiscal year 2023 is made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, and …

Bonnie: Conservation Efforts Will Remain Voluntary

Dan Conservation, Environment

With the Biden Administration’s deep focus on conservation and the environment, some agriculture groups and individual farmers are worried about mandatory conservation efforts. However, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie said conservation efforts by farmers will remain voluntary. “You’re not going to adopt soil health practices at the end of a gun barrel,” Bonnie said while speaking …