Farm Bill: Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited and Farmland Conservation

Agriculture Conservation Update:

USDA Pushes for full Wetlands Reserve Program Enrollment

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service aims to have the Wetlands Reserve Program fully enrolled by 2012.  Ducks Unlimited supports this effort to energize a program that benefits waterfowlers and landowners.

Farm Service Agency Renews Conservation Commitment to Prairie Potholes, Great Lakes, and Chesapeake Bay

The Farm Service Agency has re-designated the Prairie Pothole Region, the Great Lakes Region, and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed as priority areas for Conservation Reserve Program enrollments - encouraging more conservation in these critical waterfowl areas.

Read the Report

Farmers, Ranchers, and Conservationists Unite for Farm Bill Conservation Programs

50 organizations, representing millions of farmers, ranchers, and conservationists, united to defend popular and effective agriculture conservation programs from proposed cuts in the 2010 budget. 

Read the Letter

Cuts were proposed to several conservation programs, including the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program, and the newly passed Open Fields program (part of the 2008 Farm Bill), which had been introduced at Ducks Unlimited's Great Plains Regional Office in Bismarck, ND.

USDA Announces new incentives for Conservation Reserve Program

More than 7 million acres of wildlife and waterfowl habitat will be eligible to be open to the public for hunting and fishing, under a new plan by the US Department of Agriculture. The plan calls to open up lands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, and would almost double the acreage that is open to public access. Landowners enrolled in CRP would have additional incentives if they agree to open their land to public hunting and fishing.

In addition to the increased land open to hunters, the USDA also announced that there would be additional incentives to encourage enrollment in the Prairie Pothole Region, where more than 2.2 million birds are produced on CRP land alone.
 

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