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 Home > News & Policies > July 2004

For Immediate Release
July 30, 2004

Usda Provides Farm and Ranch Lands Protection

For Immediate Release USDA Press Office July 30, 2004

USDA Provides Nearly $6 Millioin of Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program Funds to 32 States

VAN WERT, Ohio--Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced the availability of nearly $6 million in Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) funds. Thirty-two states will receive this funding to purchase permanent conservation easements on America's farms and ranches.

"These funds will allow more farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture," said Veneman during a visit here to the Farm Focus farm show. "This programs helps to ensure that productive land is protected, and encourages farmers and ranchers to use conservation systems that improve environmental health."

This USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) program protects productive agricultural land by purchasing conservation easements to limit conversion of farm and ranch lands to nonagricultural uses.

These FRPP funds have been reallocated to states that requested additional funding. In distributing the funds, NRCS considered the conversion of farmland, the conversion of prime farmland and states' requests for additional monies to complete specific projects.

The funding allocations by state are:

Alabama100,000 Arizona 94,500 California 275,591 Colorado 240,858 Connecticut 218,870 Florida 223,976 Georgia 204,340 Illinois 121,102 Iowa 9,900 Kentucky 190,450 Maryland 419,903 Massachusetts 300,245 Michigan 207,655 Minnesota 73,428 Missouri 47,100 Montana 96,220 Nebraska 213,500 Nevada 190,000 New Hampshire 228,027 New Jersey 360,591 New York 244,330 Ohio 228,616 Oklahoma 131,257 Rhode Island 192,313 South Carolina 113,820 Tennessee 69,500 Texas 123,523 Utah 166,868 Vermont 234,110 Washington 134,904 West Virginia 127,152 Wyoming 124,147 Grand Total $5,706,796