What Does A Final Conservation Easement Program Rule Mean For Ag

So what are some of the updates connected with USDA's Agricultural Conservation Easement Program once the recently-published final rule becomes official?

"We made some revisions to the ACEP language to allow for those land owners to take credit of environmental markets," said Jimmy Bramblett of NRCS. "We also gave a lot more credence to some activity that a lot of our entities who are working with landowners to pursue easements under the AG land easement component of ACEP have the opportunity to be more flexible with how much of the non-federal match comes from the entity themselves versus how much of that non-federal match can come from the landowner. for wetlands in the interim rule we included water quality as a priority.

Bramblett said the final rule updates ACEP as directed by the 2018 Farm Bill. He noted it also updates regulations regarding both agricultural land and wetland reserve easements based on public comments made in the interim final rule published last year.

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