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NACD is pleased with farm bill Conservation Title

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) is happy with the continued investment in the Senate-passed farm bill Conservation Title.

“The biggest priority for us was making sure that the Conservation Title maintained funding from the 2014 Farm Bill levels,” said Coleman Garrison, director of government affairs at the NACD. “That has occurred in this farm bill and we are really pleased.”

The NACD supports the farm bill keeping the Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program separate, according to Garrison.

“We see the benefit of a producer being able to apply for both types of programs,” Garrison told Brownfield Ag News Tuesday. “They have different purposes and they have different contracts the way that they are structured, so to be able to provide that flexibility for a producer is important to us.”

The measure provides for expanding acreage in the Conservation Reserve Program from 24 million to 27 million acres. That increase is to be paid for with a cap on per-acre payment rates.

AUDIO: Coleman Garrison (6 min. MP3)