This week I’m attending the Conservation in Action Tour put on by the Conservation Technology Information Center. We’re in Illinois and will be touring farms in the Indian Creek Watershed where CTIC has been partnered with multiple entities in a project since 2010. To kick things off I met our Acting Chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Jason Weller. We got to talk for a few moments this evening and hopefully will have another chance tomorrow on the tour. I asked him how important a farm bill is to a department like NRCS. He says it’s “critical” not just for NRCS but for for USDA as a whole. It’s important to have a “long-term game plan or roadmap.” This provides some certainty for farmers to know what to expect in the future. Jason says that conservation has become part of a business operating plan for farmers.

You can listen to my interview with Jason here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/ctic/ctic-13-weller.mp3″ text=”Interview with Jason Weller, USDA-NRCS”]

You can find photos of the tour here: 2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album