Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 2/28/18

The House draft of the 2018 farm bill is expected to raise to 30 million the number of acres that can be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, House Agriculture ranking member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said Tuesday. The USDA program -- which each year pays about $2 billion to farmers and ranchers to remove environmentally sensitive land from production -- has nearly 24 million acres enrolled (peak enrollment hit nearly 37 million acres in 2007).

"We're still working on the scoring, but it looks like we'll be able to go to 30 million acres," Peterson told Catherine on Tuesday following a committee markup. He said members were still awaiting cost projections by the Congressional Budget Office, or the CBO score.

For several years, Peterson has sought to increase CRP acres, both as a way to expand land conservation efforts - like preventing soil erosion and restoring wildlife habitat - as well increasing financial assistance to struggling farmers amid a slump in the agricultural economy.