FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Reana Kovalcik, 202-547-5754, RKovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net
Greg Fogel, 202-547-5754, GFogel@sustainableagriculture.net

Expanding Opportunities to Participate in CCRP Will Enhance Agricultural Conservation Efforts

Washington, DC, December 7, 2016 – The new rental rate cap for continuous CRP (CCRP) practices is a great example of USDA thinking creatively about how to improve conservation opportunities while also responding to growing congressional concern over land access issues. This change will free state FSA offices up to allocate more acres to priority initiatives where needed. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition helped to develop CCRP in 1990 as a way to help farmers implement conservation practices on environmentally sensitive lands. This latest development builds upon CCRP’s reputation as one of USDA’s most important tools for conserving wildlife habitat and protecting water quality. The addition of saturated buffers as a conservation practice is a major step toward helping producers limit nitrate loss, which unlike other types of nutrient runoff, has been difficult to control using traditional buffer strips.

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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC):

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more: https://sustainableagriculture.net