USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said that climate-smart ag policies will include initial moves to harness existing conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
“Congress has basically authorized and approved up to [25] million acres to go into that program,” he explained. The data on what is currently in CRP is 20.8 million at the end of January, Enrolling an additional 4 million acres to meet the cap can “begin the process of addressing some of the challenges that we face” related to climate, he said.
USDA may work with states to come up with ways to encourage farmers to enroll more marginal lands in CRP, potentially including additional incentive payments. A key will be ensuring a balance between promoting climate goals and not distorting markets in regions across the country, he added.
For CRP and other USDA conservation programs, Vilsack said he hopes to focus them on climate-smart ag practices. “We need to provide incentives, we need to provide resources, we need to provide cost-share for all the activities that are currently taking place and see if we can expand them and build upon them.”
Vilsack reiterated that harnessing carbon markets will be another focus and ensuring they serve the needs of farmers will be critical. “You can set up the prototype if you will, or the pilot, and then see how it works,” he said of an ag carbon bank, suggesting the move could tap extra funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). Should the pilots prove successful “then we basically go back to Congress and say, 'How can we get this thing ramped up to a point where more and more farmers are participating?'”