HEARING HELD ON PETERSON CRP BILL
WASHINGTON, DC – The House Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Resource Conservation, and Credit held a hearing today to discuss H.R. 408, a bill authored by Congressman Collin C.Peterson (DFL-7th District) to increase the nationwide acreage of the Conservation Reserve Program.
“I am pleased that the Ag Committee has taken this step to review my bill to expand the benefits of CRP,” Peterson said.
According to Peterson, the bill would remove the current cap on acreage that is set at 36.4 million acres and raise the authorization to 45 million acres.
“If we make raising the cap a priority, CRP is available immediately to farmers,” Peterson said while testifying before the Agriculture Committee. “This is not a solution to today’s farm crisis, but it is a proven program with demonstrated ability that can help some farmers and allow us to expand the conservation and wildlife benefits across the country.”
The Peterson bill is supported by numerous organizations including: Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, National Rifle Association, and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union both support full use and authorization of CRP. The bill has also garnered the support of more than 50 members of the House of Representatives and is a top priority of the 260-member strong Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus.
During the hearing, Peterson also discussed a bill he recently drafted which would allow local committees to waive the 25% cropland limit on county CRP enrollment for Roseau, Kittson, and Marshall counties. The bill seeks to resolve a USDA decision earlier this year that denied a waiver for the three counties. If passed, the Secretary of Agriculture would be required to allow the waivers if the local FSA committees determined that it was beneficial for the local area.
“I feel that it is important to return local input into some of these decisions by USDA,” Peterson said. “If these counties wish to exceed the current limit on cropland in CRP, that decision should be made by them.”
Both H.R. 408 and the CRP waiver bill are expected to continue to gain support in the House of Representatives. Peterson hopes to seek committee action soon.
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