{"id":75300,"date":"2016-11-20T02:46:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T07:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=75300"},"modified":"2016-11-18T22:53:35","modified_gmt":"2016-11-19T03:53:35","slug":"usda-resumes-incentives-to-grow-bioeconomy-and-improve-forest-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=75300","title":{"rendered":"USDA resumes incentives to grow bioeconomy and improve forest health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"USDA_Logo\"<\/a>U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Administrator Val Dolcini today announced that $1.5 million will be available in fiscal year 2017\u00a0for farmers and foresters who harvest and deliver biomass for renewable energy. The funds are from the\u00a0Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which was reauthorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSDA investments in expanding biofuel feedstocks lay the foundation for more bioproducts made in\u00a0rural America, supporting rural economic development, reducing carbon pollution and helping decrease\u00a0our dependence on foreign energy,\u201d said Dolcini.<\/p>\n

In fiscal year 2017, there is $3 million total available for BCAP, half of which is for harvesting and delivering forest or agricultural residues to a USDA-approved energy facility. BCAP also provides financial assistance to farmers and ranchers who establish and maintain new crops of biomass for energy\u00a0or biobased products; additional information on the resumption of those funds will be announced at a\u00a0later date.<\/p>\n

Facilities seeking to be qualified by USDA to accept BCAP-funded biomass can begin enrollment Nov.\u00a014 through Dec. 5, 2016. Also, between Jan. 9, 2017, through March 15, 2017, USDA will accept\u00a0applications from foresters and farmers seeking incentives to remove biomass residues from fields or\u00a0national forests for delivery to energy generation facilities. The retrieval payments are provided at match\u00a0of $1 for $1, up to $20 per dry ton. Eligible crops include corn residue, orchard waste or diseased or\u00a0insect-infested wood materials.<\/p>\n

To learn more about BCAP or\u00a0to enroll in updates, visit www.fsa.usda.gov\/bcap or contact your local\u00a0FSA county office. To find your local county office, visit\u00a0http:\/\/offices.usda.gov.<\/p>\n

Investments in renewable energy and the biobased economy are a leading part of USDA’s\u00a0commitment to mitigating climate change and promoting a clean-energy economy. This month, the\u00a0Department is examining what a changing climate means to agriculture and how USDA is working to\u00a0reduce greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit Chapter 5 of\u00a0https:\/\/medium.com\/usda-results\u00a0USDA works to strengthen and support American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11\u00a0American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume,\u00a0ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other\u00a0countries and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials.<\/p>\n

Since 2009, USDA\u00a0has provided $5.6 billion in disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; expanded risk management tools\u00a0with products like Whole Farm Revenue Protection; and helped farm businesses grow with $36 billion\u00a0in farm credit. The Department has engaged its resources to support a strong next generation of\u00a0farmers and ranchers by improving access to land and capital; building new markets and market\u00a0opportunities; and extending new conservation opportunities.<\/p>\n

USDA has developed new markets for\u00a0rural-made products, including more than 2,700 biobased products through USDA’s BioPreferred program; and invested $64 billion in infrastructure and community facilities to help improve the quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov\/results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Administrator Val Dolcini today announced that $1.5 million will be available in fiscal year 2017\u00a0for farmers and foresters who harvest and deliver biomass for renewable energy. The funds are from the\u00a0Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which was reauthorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. \u201cUSDA investments in expanding biofuel feedstocks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23679,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agfarming","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}