You may have noticed other Farm Bill actions related to the Conservation Stewardship Program and EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program). These programs are known as working lands or "share" farming conservation practices in that they are implemented alongside farming. The Conservation Reserve Program or CRP is a "spare" program, which takes land out of production so it can be "spared" for conservation. However, many farmers enter CRP for a limited time and then go back to farming. In comes Agricultural Conservation Easements Program – Agricultural Land Easements (ACEP-ALE), which enables  permanent conservation easement agreements, including those entered into by Tribes, Land Trusts, and local governments.

The Farm Bill is a super important piece of legislation. The estimated expenditures for the next 5 years are $648 billion, which is about $160 billion larger than the Inflation Reduction Act expenditures. The Farm Bill only gets reauthorized every five years and the next reauthorization is in 2023.  Watch for Farm Bill congressional hearings near you. NY, CA and other big ag states are also conducting Farm Bill hearings sponsored by the state agriculture departments. I testified at one and found our state folks very open to communicating messages re climate to their USDA colleagues working on the Farm Bill.

By the way, if any of you want to work with me more on the Farm Bill, my name is Marianne Krasny and my email is mekrasny@gmail.com. I am posting numerous Farm Bill actions on Climate Action Now.

Thanks for supporting strong climate action in the Farm Bill!