ACA Logo

Vilsack Shoots Down Suggestions for Farming CRP Acres

On Monday, April 4th, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a response to requests seeking to expand agricultural production in the United States by opening acreage currently reserved under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). In the response, Secretary Vilsack made it known that he did not support such actions at this time and any benefits in increased food production to lower food costs would be minimal relative to the ongoing conservation benefits. Currently, the CRP has about 22.1 million acres under contract, much of which is considered marginal farmland from a productivity standpoint.

Since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, growing concerns for global food supply and related spikes in commodity markets have led to increased calls to open CRP acreage for production.

More below:

https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/blogs/ag-policy-blog/blog-post/2022/04/04/ag-secretary-vilsack-rejects-open

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-agriculture/2022/04/04/vilsack-conservation-land-not-the-answer-to-global-food-crisis-00022609

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017f-efb9-d0cd-a3ff-ffb9e0830000