The American Soybean Association (ASA) along with the National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association and National Cotton Council, provided comments to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) this week on implementation of changes to the Conservation Reserve Program authorized in the 2014 farm bill. While most changes have already taken effect, FSA is in the final stages of implementing the law.

“The changes of the 2014 Farm Bill included several modifications to the program that recognize that conservation objectives can be achieved while increasing farmers’ ability to use the land working within the requirement of their conservation plan,” the comments state.  “Specifically, these modifications cover greater flexibility in the haying and grazing provisions, incidental grazing provisions, wetland provisions related to subsurface drainage, transition incentive payments, allowing access to land in the final year of the contract, and providing transition to other conservation programs.”

The comments also touch on difficulties farmers encounter in trying to improve habitat for pollinators.

“As conservation practices are being developed and refined, a grower’s ability to implement the practice should be evaluated.  For instance, pollinator habitat conservation practices have been challenging for growers due to the specific seed requirements, the high cost of the seed and the difficulty in seeding and establishing successful plantings…We hope to work with you to refine your strategy and work toward practices that create habitat and are workable for growers.”

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