Items Tagged with 'grassland'

The Forest Service is providing $20 million for research into new technologies that can help restore degraded forests, grasslands, and watersheds.

The Agriculture Department is shifting the way it promotes the Conservation Reserve Program, placing greater emphasis on allowing farmers to use enrolled land for haying and grazing, according to recent comments by Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux.

U.S. farmers have watched for years as Brazil has become an agricultural powerhouse by converting its vast rainforests and savanna into cropland, with plans to expand even more over the coming decade. Now, American producers are hoping the progress they are making on sustainability will pay off in a competitive advantage for U.S. ag exports in the lucrative European and Asian markets. This is the fifth and final installment of our series,“Agriculture’s sustainable future: Feeding more while using less.”  Part Four looked at the potential for technological innovations to make a significant impact on U.S. agriculture's environmental footprint.

Providing some parting advice on climate policy, House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson said he was introducing legislation that would require the Agriculture Department to take 50 million acres of cropland out of production through the Conservation Reserve Program.