There’s a large conservation investment included in Build Back Better plan that will be considered by the Senate. “The bill basically provides for a level of conservation investment we’ve never seen in the country’s history,” says Tom Vilsack, secretary, USDA. “It’s so large that we anticipate when it’s fully implemented, more than 100 million acres of cropland will benefit from the conservation investments. That’s about 200,000 farms that will be particularly helped, making them more resilient to a changing climate.” Vilsack says conservation funding in the Build Back Better plan will expand the baseline for the new farm bill. “That’s one of the benefits of having this bill passed, it will significantly increase the baseline. I think it also provides us additional tools that will be reinforced and expanded in the farm bill. That, combined with the climate smart forestry partnership, will help define and educate us how to structure the new farm bill to maximize income opportunities and tools available to farmers and ranchers. At the end of the day, that’s the key to a successful farm bill.”
