California Ag Network

Tag: Tom Vilsack

  • USDA Accepts More Than 1 Million Acres in Offers Through Conservation Reserve Program

    Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General signup. This is one of several signups that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is holding for the program. The results for CRP General signup reflect the continued importance of CRP as a tool to help producers invest in the long-term health, sustainability, and profitability of their land and resources.

    “This year’s General CRP signup demonstrates the value and continued strength of this voluntary conservation program, which plays an important role in helping mitigate climate change and conserve our natural resources,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Today’s announcement is one of many enrollment and partnership opportunities within CRP, including opportunities through our working lands Grassland CRP, Continuous CRP, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). USDA will continue working to ensure producers and landowners have the information they need to take advantage of the options that work best for their operations.”

    Offers for new land in this General CRP signup totaled about 295,000 acres nationwide. Producers submitted re-enrollment offers for 891,000 expiring acres, reflecting the successes of participating in CRP longer term. The total number of CRP acres will continue to climb in the coming weeks once FSA accepts acres from the Grassland CRP signup, which closed May 26. Additionally, so far this year, FSA has received 761,000 offered acres for the Continuous CRP signup, for which FSA accepts applications year-round.

    The number of accepted acres that are enrolled in General CRP will be confirmed later this year. Participating producers and landowners should also remember that submitting and accepting a CRP offer is the first step, and producers still need to develop a conservation plan before contracts become effective on October 1, 2023. Each year, during the window between offer acceptance and land enrollment, some producers ultimately decide not to enroll some accepted acres, without penalty.

    General CRP Signup

    The General CRP Signup 60 ran from February 27 through April 7, 2023.

    Through CRP, producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve soil health and water quality, and enhance wildlife habitat on agricultural land. In addition to the other well-documented benefits, lands enrolled in CRP are playing a key role in climate change mitigation efforts across the country.

    In 2021, FSA introduced improvements to the program, which included a new Climate-Smart Practice Incentive to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This incentive provides an annual 3, 5, or 10 percent incentive payment based on the predominant vegetation type for the practices enrolled – from grasses to trees to wetland restoration.

    Other CRP Signups

    Grassland CRP is a working lands program that helps producers and landowners protect grassland from conversion while enabling haying and grazing activities to continue. Lands enrolled support haying and grazing operations and promotes plant and animal biodiversity. Lands are also protected from being converted to uses other than grassland. This year’s signup for Grassland CRP ran from April 17 through May 26.

    Continuous CRP, in which producers and landowners can enroll throughout the year. Offers are automatically accepted provided the producer and land meet the eligibility requirements and the enrollment levels do not exceed the statutory cap. Continuous CRP includes the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) Initiative, the Farmable Wetlands Program (FWP), and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). In CREP, which is available in certain geographies, partnerships with States, Tribes, and other entities are leveraged for participants to receive a variety of added incentives and flexibilities. Also available is the Clean Lakes Estuaries and Rivers (CLEAR) initiative. CLEAR30, a signup opportunity under that initiative available nationwide, gives producers and landowners across the country the opportunity to enroll in 30-year CRP contracts for water quality practices.

    More Information

    To learn more about FSA programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center. Producers can also prepare maps for acreage reporting as well as manage farm loans and view other farm records data and customer information by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today.

  • Marcy Martin Named CA Citrus Research Board President

    Marcy L. Martin was named today as the new president of the Citrus Research Board (CRB). The appointment was announced by CRB Chairman Dan Dreyer, who said that Martin was selected after a nearly year-long national search for the very best candidate to lead the organization.

    Martin joins the CRB with more than 25 years of experience with California commodity organizations. She most recently served for 14 years as director of trade for the California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA), where she advocated on behalf of the state’s fresh grape, blueberry, pomegranate and deciduous tree fruit production in governmental, legislative and policy issues. Prior to that, she had been controller of the California Apple Commission for ten years.

    In 2015, then U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack appointed Martin to the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables. In his announcement, Vilsack said of those who were appointed, “They are an invaluable asset as we work to enact trade agreements and trade policies that deliver the greatest economic benefit for U.S. agriculture and for our nation as a whole.”

    “California’s citrus growers, packers and shippers have demonstrated through their keen understanding that an industry must invest in sound research to meet the challenges of a constantly evolving environment, marketplace and consumer,” said Martin. “The Citrus Research Board, industry, staff and research community have stepped up to take on looming challenges, specifically huanglongbing, that have devastated citrus production within other regions, both domestically and globally. This is an area I am passionate about, and I look forward to bringing my experience in the technical and regulatory arena to the team.”

    Dreyer said, “The Board is pleased to have Marcy Martin taking the helm of CRB. Her extensive experience with commodity organizations and local, state and federal regulatory agencies will be a key ingredient to the success of CRB projects and priorities. She comes to the CRB with extensive knowledge of fresh tree fruit production and the agricultural use of plant protection products. Our Board members were impressed by her dedication to and passion for agriculture.”

    “The California citrus industry is an important economic contributor and an icon of the Golden State,” Martin said. “Citrus is part of our American and Californian agricultural footprint – a commodity we need to preserve and foster. I’m honored to be part of this continuing tradition.”

    Martin officially will join the CRB on October 1 and will be based out of the CRB headquarters in Visalia, California. She will take the reins from Interim President Franco Bernardi.

    “We cannot thank Franco enough for his dedicated service to the CRB throughout the past year,” said Dreyer. “He did an excellent job in guiding the organization through a challenging period, and the Board has been truly grateful for his leadership.”
    About the Citrus Research Board
    The CRB administers the California Citrus Research Program, the grower-funded and grower-directed program established in 1968 enabling the State’s citrus producers to sponsor and support needed research. More information about the Citrus Research Board may be found at www.citrusresearch.org.

  • DMI Names Harden to Lead Global Environmental Strategy

    Krysta Harden, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has been named Executive Vice President of Global Environmental Strategy of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI). At a time when telling the story of U.S. dairy’s positive environmental contributions has never been more important, Harden will be tasked with driving the dairy checkoff’s environmental sustainability strategy.Krysta-Harden

     
    “Dairy farmers are the original environmental stewards and by creating this position we will continue to ensure that U.S. dairy is well-positioned to meet the heightened demands of the global marketplace,” said Barb O’Brien, president of DMI and the Innovation Center. “With her background and leadership, Krysta is the ideal person to not only share U.S. dairy’s positive environmental story and progress to date from farm to table but to also chart a path that reinforces the vital role dairy and farmers can and will play in global and sustainable food systems.”
     
    Harden will report to O’Brien and will collaborate with DMI and Innovation Center leadership to define an inspiring vision, strategy and plan forward for U.S. dairy’s environmental commitment. She will also provide executive leadership on the Innovation Center’s Environmental Stewardship Committee. The committee convenes the dairy value chain including farmers to identify priorities, goals and metrics, align on best practices, identify gaps in science and innovation, and develop resources and outreach to accelerate adoption and report progress.
     
    “Coming from a farm family, I’m excited to work on behalf of dairy farmers who have demonstrated for generations stewardship of land, animals and other natural resources,” Harden said. “This is an opportunity to share their story – the 24/7, 365-days-a-year commitment to leaving the land in a better place for future generations. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to work with farmers and the broader dairy community to identify new research, technologies and partnerships that will accelerate and build upon U.S. dairy’s long-standing commitments and positive impact.”
     
    Harden most recently served as senior vice president of External Affairs and chief sustainability officer for Corteva Agriscience, an agriculture division of DowDuPont. Before joining DuPont, Harden spent nearly three years as deputy secretary for Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, helping to shape food and agriculture policy.
     
    Visit www.dairy.org to learn more about the dairy checkoff and www.usdairy.com to learn more about the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.