The Biden administration spent record amounts on farm and forest conservation in fiscal 2024, the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.
In a news release, the USDA said its Natural Resources Conservation Service devoted $3 billion to climate-smart agriculture through the Inflation Reduction Act and $2 billion to regular farm bill conservation programs for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Some 23,000 conservation contracts funded through the Inflation Reduction Act put climate-smart practices in place on more than 11 million acres of privately owned land, the department said.
“This past year was another record-breaking one for America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, with more conservation assistance provided than ever before,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release.
