U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that 800,000 acres will be enrolled through three different components of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Of particular note, USDA’s CRP general sign-up completed at the end of February generated more than 1.8 million acres in offers, but was only able to accept 23 percent of the 26,000 landownerRead more

The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, praised the passage today by the U.S. Senate of the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act. The act was passed as an amendment to S.2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act. Similar legislation passed the House of Representatives earlier in the 114th Congress. As a result, today's vote brings the Bipartisan Sportsmen's package closer to enactment than ever before.Read more

The Farm Service Agency in Washington D.C. has released its statewide summary of acres accepted as part of USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) 49th general sign-up in South Dakota. The dismal results – only two offers out of 727 applications were accepted for 101 total acres out of 42,352 acres offered – indicate South Dakota is poised to continue hemorrhaging wildlife habitat, with 155,000 additional acres of CRP contracts set to expire by fall of 2018.Read more