Northwest gets USDA public meeting on CRP
Farm and Ranch August 27, 2009 The USDA Farm Service Agency is asking the public for comments on the Conservation Reserve Program at nine meetings scheduled for September 15th through October 8th. Spokane, Washington will be the location of the first meeting and the only one in the Pacific Northwest. Ben Horter with FSA says the meetings are actually on environmental impact statements related to CRP. Horter: “They do have to do with CRP in that the changes in the 2008 Farm Bill to CRP. We are having public meetings and we are doing a supplemental environmental impact statement on those changes. And these public meetings are to inform the public what the 2008 changes were to CRP and to get their input on how they would like to see those changes adopted.” And what are some the changes to CRP? Horter: “Some of the changes that happened in the 2008 Farm Bill that we will be talking about in these meetings, some of the crop rotation practices have changed, contract initiatives. Some of the program enrollment terms have changed. They can give their input on how they would like to see these changes adopted for them. The National Environmental Policy Act requires us to solicit comment for changes we have in our programs. Just about any federal agency action that has the a chance to significantly affect the human environment.” The Spokane meeting is September 15th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Spokane Airport. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network. ?
