Farmers have just over a week to get eligible land enrolled in the CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) this year. Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Richard Fordyce reminded producers that the deadline to sign up is Friday, Aug. 17, 2018. “Any agricultural producer that has eligible land should review the benefits of this program,” said Fordyce. […]

As part of a 33-year effort to protect sensitive lands and improve water quality and wildlife habitat on private lands, the USDA will resume accepting applications for the voluntary Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Eligible farmers, ranchers, and private landowners can sign up at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office between June 4 and Aug. […]

Late last week, Iowa’s Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as well as Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) introduced the Give our Resources the Opportunity to Work Act or GROW Act. The act would maintain funding and acreage levels for the farm bill’s three largest conservation programs: the Conservation […]

More than $9.6 billion in USDA farm safety net payments will soon be made to many producers affected by drought, wildfires, and hurricanes through the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC), and Conservation Reserve (CRP) programs. The USDA is issuing approximately $8 billion in payments under the ARC and PLC programs for the […]

With Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s announcement Thursday that the USDA is authorizing the use of additional CRP lands for emergency grazing and haying to help those ranchers affected by severe drought, more states may be able to help. The USDA is adding the ability for farmers and ranchers in these areas to hay and graze […]

The drought is not letting up across the Dakotas and Montana. And with this week’s forecast calling for hot, dry weather over the Northern Plains, it doesn’t look like relief is in sight for awhile. Thus the reason Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is authorizing emergency grazing of CRP for any county in which any […]

Secretary Sonny Perdue is bringing some relief to drought-stricken Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota by authorizing emergency grazing on CRP lands.

Acting in response to a directive from President Donald J. Trump, the USDA authorized emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands located in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas – the three states which were most heavily impacted by ongoing wildfires which began on March 6, 2017. USDA Acting Deputy Secretary Michael L. Young issued a […]

Governors Greg Abbott of Texas, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, and Mary Fallin of Oklahoma penned a letter to the USDA calling for the temporary suspension of grazing restrictions in the Conservation Reserve Program after devastating wildfires. The letter also asks for the USDA-Farm Service Agency (FSA) to expedite implementation of the Emergency […]