Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
46 <br />1 and conservation may be of particular interest Orange County's conventional farmers looking for <br />2 new ways to make their land profitable. <br />3 <br />Food, Conservation and Energy <br />Act of 2008, Farm Bill Titles <br />• Title I Commodity Programs • <br />Title VIII <br />Forestry <br />• Title II Conservation • <br />Title D( <br />Energy <br />• Title III Trade • <br />Title X <br />Horticulture and Organic Agriculture <br />• Title IV Nutrition • <br />Title XI <br />Livestock <br />• Title V Credit • <br />Title XII <br />Crop Insurance <br />• Title VI Rural Development • <br />Title XIII <br />Commodity Futures <br />• Title VII Research • <br />Title XIV <br />Miscellaneous <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 A number of other programs are already available to local farmers. The following list includes <br />7 some of the voluntary federal programs that are administered by the Natural Resources <br />8 Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Services Agency (FSA) of the United States Department <br />9 of Agriculture (USDA) support staff. They are designed to compensate farmland owners for the <br />10 conservation value of their land. Like local conservation easement programs, they have the <br />11 dual effect of safeguarding the environmental benefits of farmland as open space while <br />12 injecting dollars into the local economy via the farmland owner.21 <br />13 1. Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP). The Farm and Ranchland Protection <br />14 Program provides federal funds to help purchase development rights, keeping <br />15 productive farmland in agricultural use while compensating the farmland owner for the <br />16 conservation value of his or her land. The FRPP program matches state and local <br />17 agricultural conservation easement programs up to 50% of the easement purchase <br />18 price, working through state, tribal and local governments and land trusts. Orange <br />19 County has received $2.3 million in grants from FRPP since 2002 for the acquisition of <br />20 10 easements. <br />21 <br />22 2. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The Conservation Reserve Program reduces soil <br />23 erosion, protects the nation's ability to produce food and fiber, reduces sedimentation in <br />24 streams and lakes, improves water quality, establishes wildlife habitat, and enhances <br />25 forest and wetland resources. It encourages farmers to convert highly erodible cropland <br />26 or other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover, such as tame or native <br />27 grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filter strips, or riparian buffers. Farmers receive an <br />28 annual rental payment for the term of the multi -year contract. Orange County farmers <br />29 have received $57,471 during the last four years from this program. <br />30 <br />31 3. Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREPT. CREP is a voluntary program that <br />32 seeks to protect land along watercourses that is currently in agricultural production. The <br />33 objectives of the program include: installing 100,000 acres of forested riparian buffers, <br />34 grassed filter strips and wetlands; reducing the impacts of sediment and nutrients within <br />35 the targeted area; and providing substantial ecological benefits for many wildlife species <br />36 that are declining in part as a result of habitat loss. Under CREP, landowners can <br />25 For more program information and legislative authority, see <br />www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill/2002 <br />Draft 1012812009 Opportunities for Enhancing Agriculture in Orange County 31 <br />