09/09/08 Farmland Protection Program changes

Washington Ag September 9, 2008 One of the conservation programs Congress made changes in for the new farm bill is the Farmland Protection Program. In an interview during a recent visit to Washington Natural Resources Conservation Service chief Arlen Lancaster discussed some of the changes. Lancaster: "It went to a program whose primary purpose was to protect top soil. The idea being we want to preserve this farmland for future use as farmland, to one where the purpose is ag viability. So now it is not so much about protecting the topsoil but it is about protecting the farm and the viability of that as an ag operation. So that is a significant change. As well Congress created some certification opportunities where we can certify entities so they can have multi-year contracts to protect land." Lancaster says those changes should make it easier for entities to participate, which should mean more land can be protected. The Farmland Protection Program funding is expanded to 200 million dollars a year in 2012, up from the current baseline level of 97 million dollars. NRCS is busy writing new rules to implement the conservation programs in the new farm bill that it administers, which include EQIP and the new CSP. I'm Bob Hoff.