FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 30, 1998
CONTACT: Dana Hagerty 202/225-2165
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Collin C. Peterson (DFL-7th District) today urged Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman, to approve an extension of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) priority area in Minnesota in an effort to help farmers.
Peterson has been working with Wally Sparby, State FSA Director, to create a proposal to expand the CRP Conservation Priority Area (CPA) in Northwest Minnesota in areas that were excluded from the original priority area that was created after the 1996 Farm Bill.
"We have been trying to get this corrected, and now is the time to get it done," Peterson said. "I have been talking to Secretary Glickman about the need to help our farmers, and given the current farm crisis situation, it is our hope that USDA will move swiftly on this proposal.
If it is approved, many of the farmers who are in serious trouble right now will be able to possibly take some of their land out of production for conservation purposes.
"Land owners don't have a lot of options right now, and if this goes through, it will at least give them the possibility of another option."
It is expected that USDA will have their next CRP sign-up sometime this fall.