Hat Chat

USDA has announced a new initiative to improve water quality and the overall health of the Mississippi River Basin. The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) will provide approximately $320 million over the next four years for voluntary projects in priority watersheds located in 12 key states, including Indiana.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement Thursday, and stated, “The Mississippi River Basin contains some of the most productive farmland in the world, and an adequate supply of high quality water is an essential ingredient to the continued health of the region, and for agriculture, for industry, the environment, and the 70 million people who live in the basin’s communities.”

The initiative will be managed by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. NRCS Chief Dave White explained how the intiative will work in a conference call Thursday.

Listen to the Chief’s opening remarks:

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Later in the day Hoosier Ag Today spoke with Indiana State Conservationist Jane Hardisty. She told us the program offers exciting opportunities and did her best to answer our questions. For the state office it can be a little early to be answering questions when they still have many themselves as the information just begins to flow in. We expect to hear more from them in the coming days. In the meantime she encourages those with questions to call the state office.

Listen to our discussion with Jane Hardisty:

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