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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Monday, December 30, 2024
With hundreds of new NRCS employees coming onboard, agency officials must now grapple with how to effectively train up and keep on a generation of younger workers while simultaneously rolling out billions of new farm conservation dollars.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service is gaining ground in its fight to recruit enough staff to handle an infusion of additional conservation dollars while staving off the impacts brought on by a seemingly endless stream of retirements and job changes.
The Biden administration’s release of principles to ensure integrity in voluntary carbon markets are being welcomed by observers of – and participants in – the growing marketplace, who say it’s sign that the government is following the private sector’s lead.
The Agriculture Department, state agencies, private companies and non-profits are preparing to distribute $1.1 billion through 81 new Regional Conservation Partnership Program projects.
Five former Natural Resources Conservation Chiefs last week joined specialty crop growers in calling for a loosening of income restrictions for conservation programs, but opponents warned that such a change will only make it harder for smaller farmers to participate.
The Agriculture Department is working with groups involved in the $3.1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program to provide flexibility to farmers on how they plant cover crops, in order to ensure enough farmers sign up for the projects.
An increase in capacity for technical assistance within the Natural Resources Conservation Service is necessary as the agency looks to integrate $18.5 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding into its conservation programs, but the agency will likely need to look at ways to expand its roster of non-government experts as it struggles to bring in enough qualified professionals to fill its internal workforce needs.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., says she is not interested in making cuts to the nutrition title in the upcoming farm bill, but is open to reforms.
This week will be the most important so far when it comes to climate policy. In connection with a global leaders summit that President Joe Biden is holding online Thursday and Friday, the administration is expected to release a new pledge for reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
U.S. farmers, ranchers, foresters and food companies are leaning in on the climate policy debate more than ever before, even as many questions remain about how to achieve measurable and practical solutions that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
