Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Monday, June 20, 2011

Vilsack makes major BCAP announcements

Biomass Power & Thermal
By Anna Austin June 15, 2011

Vilsack said that USDA's goal is to get up to 50,000 acres of cropland for the growth of miscanthus.
While the fate of 2012 funding for USDA's Biomass Crop Assistance Program is still up in the air, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made some major announcements June 15 regarding the program’s project area component.

In early June, the Ag Appropriations Subcommittee and the House Appropriations Committee voted to eliminate 2012 funding for BCAP. All hope for the program is not lost, however, as the ag department spending bill still has to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate. Several strong BCAP supporting senators, including Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, are expected to make a bid to preserve the program’s funding.

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