Hello Again!
Kitchen – check.
Bedrooms – check.
Garage – check.
Yes, I’ve been busy spring cleaning!
Have you ever wondered who works to clean our planet? America’s farmers and ranchers play an important role in keeping the earth clean through the Farm Service Agency’s Conservation Reserve Program. CRP conserves soil, improves water and air quality and creates better wildlife habitat. Farmers and ranchers not only spend their lives working the land, they work to let the land live on.
CRP has a 25-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation’s natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United States. Currently, about 30 million acres are enrolled in CRP.
This year, USDA enrolled a record number of acres of private working lands in conservation programs, working with more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, and prevent soil erosion.
The general CRP national signup ended April 13, 2012, however environmentally sensitive land devoted to certain conservation practices may be enrolled at any time under the CRP Continuous Sign-up. Certain eligibility requirements still apply, but offers are not subject to competitive bidding. Further information on CRP Continuous sign-up is available in the FSA fact sheet “Conservation Reserve Program Continuous Sign-up.”
This past weekend, April 22, people all over the country reached out to celebrate Earth Day and thanked their local farmers and ranchers, the original conservationists and stewards of the Earth. For more information about Earth Day, visit www.earthday.org.
That’s all for now,
FSA Andy
