USDA has accepted more than 600,000 acres into a Conservation Reserve initiative to preserve grasslands and aims to enroll at least an additional 200,000 acres in a sign-up that ends on Dec. 16. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) says a large part of the land is in states where there is a high risk of grasslands being converted to cropland or development.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is scheduled to announce new conservation initiatives today while speaking to the Iowa Farm Bureau. The USDA has a wide range of stewardship programs. The largest in annual expenditures is the Conservation Reserve Program and the largest in area is the Conservation Stewardship Program for working lands. On Tuesday, USDA said $33 million would be spent in 197 high-priority watersheds through the National Water Quality Initiative.
Early this week, the White House announced a government-wide framework for soil science. It involves a dozen agencies and calls for an expansion of work by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The ongoing sign-up for the CRP Grassland initiative includes a carve-out for small livestock farms, who can enroll up to 200 acres per farm. USDA said it hopes to enroll an additional 200,000 acres. “The new practice for small-scale livestock grazing operations encourages greater diversity geographically and in all types of livestock operation,” said USDA.
Nebraska and South Dakota are the top states for enrollment in the CRP Grassland initiative, said NSAC.