Ag Policy Blog

Vilsack on Easements, Rail and Livestock Aid

Chris Clayton
By  Chris Clayton , DTN Ag Policy Editor
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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack rolled out some enrollment details Monday of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), a program in the 2014 farm bill that combined several earlier easement programs into a single program.

The program had 1,450 applications nationally that could have spent up to $546 million. USDA was able to approve 380 easement projects in ACEP for $328 million.

In a telephone call with reporters,Vilsack said ACEP will focus on water quality, wetlands and wildlife habitat. The program also will protect farms that are at a high risk for development or erosion. Of the 129,000 acres announced for enrollment on Monday, 60% are farmland or grassland. The rest are largely wetland programs.

Other conservation programs could help landowners who did not get approved in this round or they may be approved for funding next year. "Obviously, this is a popular program," Vilsack said.

Rail Problems

The secretary also spent time at the White House on Monday updating the president on farm bill implementation and technology upgrades going on at USDA. Vilsack said he also talked briefly with the president about the rail problems plaguing the northern Plains.

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"We're concerned about the lack of rail capacity to haul grain in light of the upcoming and fairly significant bumper crop," Vilsack said.

Vilsack said he felt BNSF was taking steps to alleviate some of the rail congestion, citing the railroad's $5 billion 2014 capital plan. "I think they are on-track to continue that commitment and I think they need to do so to handle not just this year, but future years," the secretary said.

The secretary added that he thinks the Canadian Pacific Railroad "still has a lot of work to do." Vilsack had his staff send a letter to the Surface Transportation Board several weeks ago expressing concern about the rail backlog.

Livestock Disaster and Sequestration

Federal budget sequestration is still out there and could affect livestock producers who have potential disaster claims. Vilsack said producers who have suffered disaster-related losses have until Sept. 30 to beat the sequester deadline.

If they miss the deadline, livestock producers could still file a claim, but the payment could be cut by 7.3%.

This would affect the Livestock Forage Disaster Program and the Livestock Indemnity Program. Under the forage program, producers need to at least have an appointment made with their local FSA office before Oct. 1. To lock in their payment without a sequester penalty.

Under the Livestock Indemnity Program, producers must have the application completed before Oct. 1 or risk getting hit with a sequester penalty.

Vilsack noted USDA has already processed 240,000 livestock disaster applications and paid out more than $2.5 billion.

"I think it's important for folks to know we are still in a constrained-resource environment," Vilsack said. "We have got to do everything we can to maintain funding. Then it is incumbent on all of us to try to be as creative and as innovative as we can to try to leverage those resources."

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Bonnie Dukowitz
9/16/2014 | 5:26 AM CDT
And yet another pipeline construction project halted. In Mn. the Commission, 3 DFLers, 2 Reps. voted 3 to 2 to recommend up to 6 alternate routes for the proposed route. It will now again take years to wade through the bureaucratic boondoggle. Warren buffet and Obamma will be happy. Then the R.R.s get the blame for the transportation issue.
Raymond Simpkins
9/9/2014 | 8:00 PM CDT
So the ACEP cost the goverment 2542.00 dollars an acre? 328 million divided by 129,000 acres.870,000 dollars per project.