Environment

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Farm and environmental groups that often disagree on ag policy are urging the Agriculture Department to prioritize climate change in conservation programs and to consider changes to crop insurance that would promote the use of cover crops and other carbon-conserving practices.

The Agriculture Department continues to insist that working lands will be included in the Biden administration’s goal of conserving 30% of the nation’s land and waters by 2030, as the administration prepares to flesh out some of the details of its 30x30 initiative.

High commodity prices are fueling farmers' optimism as planters get rolling this spring, but in some areas the lack of rain this spring is making producers nervous as they plant into the dusty ground.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service has agreed to improve its wetland enforcement by taking a risk-based instead of a random approach to its annual compliance check, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday.

A broad coalition of farm and conservation groups says a USDA-run carbon bank should be used to test ways to establish carbon accounting guidelines, expand the use of climate-friendly farming practices and enable small-scale farms and minority producers to benefit from carbon markets.

The Environmental Protection Agency has taken legal action to repeal three waivers from the nation’s biofuel mandate that were granted in the waning days of the Trump administration.

Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat who’s one of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s newest members, is jumping into a range of farm policy issues, including pushing for as much as $20 billion a year in new conservation spending to be part of an upcoming climate and infrastructure package.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan says the agency can be expected to play a critical role in the Biden administration’s goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions but needs a financial boost to be in “fighting shape.”

Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow says that President Joe Biden’s $2.7 trillion infrastructure plan is “woefully inadequate” when it comes to funding for climate-friendly farming practices and that she's pushing for a major increase in funding for conservation programs.