Agriculture Policy

By Max Fisher, Vice President of Economics and Government Relations The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has rolled out two new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pilot programs – the Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) and CLEAR 30. Both pilot programs were authorized by the 2018 farm law and are offering enrollments in 2020.  SHIPP is restricted to landowners in the Prairie Pothole region (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota) and the rationale for the program is to create an alternative within CRP that is shorter in ... Read More

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced March 26 the acceptance of more than 3.4 million acres in the recently completed general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signup, the first general signup enrollments since 2016. The 2018 farm law established a nationwide acreage limit for CRP, with the total number of acres that may be enrolled capped at 24.5 million acres in 2020 and growing to 27 million by 2023. USDA currently has 22 million acres enrolled within the 24.5 million acreage cap, with contracts totaling 4.5 million acres set to expire on Oct. 1, 2020.  While the ... Read More

By Bobby Frederick, Director of Legislative Affairs and Public Policy Congress and President Trump are on the verge of delivering a historic $2 trillion measure designed to help stabilize the economy in response to the adverse economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The measure would provide direct payments to many Americans, hundreds of billions of dollars in loans for companies and small businesses, and $100 billion for hospitals. H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, unanimously passed the Senate late Wednesday evening (March 25) by a vote of ... Read More

In a statement submitted March 2 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the NGFA recommended several changes to the agency’s interim rule for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). Through ACEP, the NRCS pays conservation easement holders that purchase conservation easements from landowners. NRCS pays 50 to 75 percent of the market value of the land. This is in addition to federal tax incentives for conservation easement sellers. Under a conservation easement, the terms and conditions, such as which agricultural uses will be ... Read More

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is launching a new pilot program under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that enables farmers in the Prairie Pothole region to receive payments for planting cover crops on their land for three to five years. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced Feb. 24 that the new Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) pilot, authorized by the 2018 farm law, is available to producers in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Signup for the pilot starts March 30 and ends Aug. 21. SHIPP, which will allow up to 50,000 acres ... Read More

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Feb. 6 announced the availability of two federal crop insurance programs for hemp producers. A pilot hemp insurance program offered through Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) provides coverage against loss of yield because of insurable causes of loss for hemp grown for fiber, grain or cannabidiol (CBD) oil.  Meanwhile, a Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage protects against losses associated with lower yields, destroyed crops or prevented planting where no permanent federal crop insurance program is available. Producers ... Read More

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Feb. 3 announced the third and final tranche of 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments designed to assist farmers economically damaged by trade retaliation by foreign nations, principally China. USDA said the payments would begin being received by farmers by the end of this week.  The Trump administration already has distributed around $11 billion to farmers and ranchers to partially compensate for 2019 revenue losses; another $8.6 billion was awarded in 2018. The first tranche was comprised of the higher of either 50 percent of a ... Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit struck down three small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Jan. 24 court ruling follows a challenge brought against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May 2018 by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the National Corn Growers Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and National Farmers Union. In a joint press release issued on Jan. 27, the groups said the decision is expected to broadly affect EPA’s approach to granting small refinery exemptions. “We are extremely pleased with the ... Read More