Payments to farmers to set aside land were reduced by the previous administration.
Eric Deeble is with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coaltion. He says those payments are intended to offset the losses a farmer incurs when crops are not grown.
“They promote the reservation of land that is really important to preserve water quality, provide animal habitat and provide a variety of additional environmental benefits.”
He says payments will now go up.
“And they're going to be making some tweaks that really prioritize those sensitive lands."
Those tweaks will benefit farmers willing to put land into conservation for longer periods of time and use grass buffers along waterways to protect streams and lakes.