Hoeven Discusses Efforts to Advance Regenerative Agriculture with HHS & Interior Secretaries

MCKENZIE, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today joined a meeting hosted by Senator Kevin Cramer with U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum at Black Leg Ranch. Hoeven discussed efforts to support regenerative agriculture practices to improve soil and water quality, stressing the importance of voluntary, farmer-friendly conservation programs . To this end, Hoeven outlined the following priorities he is working to advance through his roles as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee: Hoeven-authored provisions he has included in the Senate Farm Bill 2.0: The SCALE Act – Provides matching grants to support state-led soil health and wildlife habitat programs, like Governor Armstrong’s Legacy Soil Health and Habitat Program. Joint Chiefs Program – Reauthorizes the program, which has provided more than $3.2 million for partnerships with private landowners to help improve and restore grasslands in North Dakota. Programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Agriculture research , including projects focused on improving soil health and grazing and rangeland management that are being undertaken by the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan. “Our farmers and ranchers know the importance of maintaining the quality of their soil and water, and we’re working to empower them to do just that. Importantly, these efforts need to be voluntary and farmer-friendly, rather than one-size-fits-all mandates. I appreciate Secretary Kennedy for his willingness to hear from our producers firsthand about the practices that work best for them. This is about supporting the long-term profitability of our producers and ensuring Americans continue to have access to the highest-quality, lowest-cost food supply in the world,” said Senator Hoeven . Hoeven also discussed efforts important to livestock producers to better help them manage their risk, strengthen domestic U.S. beef production and support grazing access on federal lands. These include: Strengthening the farm safety net for cattle producers by providing additional livestock insurance options that operate similar to the crop insurance program available to farmers. Preventing prairie dog colonies from expanding beyond reasonable levels. Hoeven’s provision in the Farm Bill amends prairie dog management plans for the Dakota Prairie Grasslands to limit prairie dog habitat to no more than 1.5 percent of any single grazing allotment and establish a 1-mile buffer along adjacent state and private lands. Enhance the risk management tools and disaster assistance available to ranchers, such as the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm Raised Fish Program (ELAP). These provisions build on measures Hoeven worked to pass as part of the Working Families Tax Cut Act to expand LIP payment coverage and improve assistance through the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) for ranchers impacted by drought. Improving access to the national grasslands for grazers, including by supporting efforts to revise the Travel Management Plan (TMP) for the Little Missouri Grasslands to make section line rights-of-way available. -###-