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land conservation

AGree calls for conservation, nutrition and food aid reforms

The AGree project, a multiyear endeavor to reach consensus among food and farm leaders, released a package of four papers that call for substantial remodeling of U.S. conservation, public nutrition and food aid programs as well as comprehensive immigration reform.

USDA retools its working-lands conservation program

The Agriculture Department unveiled revisions in the Conservation Stewardship Program to reflect the directions of the 2014 farm law and invited public comments on its proposals.

Land preservation projects get $328 million for easements

Landowners will be paid $328 million for easements that protect farmland from urban sprawl or restore grasslands and wetlands, said the Agriculture Department. The money will flow to 380 projects totaling 129,000 acres nationwide through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. The 2014 farm law combined three easement programs to form the umbrella ACEP. "What this program does is say, where are the needs out there?" said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during a teleconference.

Report offers guidelines for calculating carbon storage

The Agriculture Department released a report that, "for the first time, provides uniform scientific methods for quantifying the changes in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage from various land management and conservation activities."

USDA opens CRP continuous enrollment, no general signup

Signup will open on Monday for the "continuous" enrollment option for the Conservation Reserve but there will be no general enrollment this year, said an Agriculture Department statement.

Conservation Reserve shrinks by 30 pct during ag boom

The Conservation Reserve, the largest U.S. land retirement program, holds 25.58 mln ac, down 30 pct from its peak of 36.77 mln ac in 2007, at latest count by USDA.

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