SECRETARY KAWAMURA URGES CALIFORNIA PARTICIPATION IN USDA CONSERVATION SURVEY

Survey scheduled for October

SACRAMENTO – CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura is urging farmers and ranchers to take part in a conservation survey scheduled for October by the USDA, which will be contacting landowners and tenants in the state to learn more about land cover, land use and stewardship practices. The data will be combined with soil and topographic data to estimate conservation needs. Nationwide, 12,000 farmers and ranchers will be contacted. 160 of them will be Californians.

“Our farmers and ranchers produce a safe and secure food supply, utilize responsible environmental stewardship, and market their products fairly for all Californians,” said Secretary Kawamura. “The USDA is one of our key partners. This survey is important because it will allow the federal government to allocate its conservation resources wisely and maintain a climate in which we may all work together to protect the environment.”

The 2002 farm bill authorized $39 billion for conservation programs, including wildlife habitat and wetlands.

In California, the survey will be administered by the California Agricultural Statistics Service, which will keep individual details of survey responses confidential. A progress report based on the survey will be published by the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service in 2005.  

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