<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for The farm bill is over, so what happens next?]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by MattKirby http://www.grist.org/article/carrots-sticks-and-crumbs/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:37:33 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/carrots-sticks-and-crumbs/1 Conservation Reserve Program? Think again. . .

This sounds great and is a very encouraging article at a time when farmers are struggling so much.  Thanks for the great article!

Now, however, thanks to the administration's wrong-headed policies, former cropland that has been set aside for conservation may be pushed back into intensive production.  See below:

http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlegacy/blog/2008/07/conserv ...

]]> Conservation Reserve Program? Think again. . .

This sounds great and is a very encouraging article at a time when farmers are struggling so much.  Thanks for the great article!

Now, however, thanks to the administration's wrong-headed policies, former cropland that has been set aside for conservation may be pushed back into intensive production.  See below:

http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlegacy/blog/2008/07/conserv ...

]]> Comment #2 by Aimee Witteman http://www.grist.org/article/carrots-sticks-and-crumbs/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:45:50 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/carrots-sticks-and-crumbs/2 CRP Transition Program

Hi Matt,
Great point about the pressures to sensitive agricultural land - one of the many challenges associated with rising commodity prices.  The USDA has yet to announce their intentions, but several groups, including the one that I work for (http://www.sustainableagriculturecoalition.org) sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Schafer last week, encouraging him not to cave into pressures to allow penalty-free early releases of Conservation Reserve Program land.
Even if USDA does not allow early-outs, millions of acres worth of CRP contracts expire in the next few years.  With high commodities prices, it is likely that many producers will not renew or extend their contracts.  To ensure the land going back into production is managed as sustainably as  possible, advocates successfully got a provision in the new farm bill that provides incentives for landowners to lease newly-expired CRP land to beginning farmers and ranchers who have  plans for conservation and land improvements.  The intent is to preserve the conservation value while fostering new farming opportunities.      

]]> CRP Transition Program

Hi Matt,
Great point about the pressures to sensitive agricultural land - one of the many challenges associated with rising commodity prices.  The USDA has yet to announce their intentions, but several groups, including the one that I work for (http://www.sustainableagriculturecoalition.org) sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Schafer last week, encouraging him not to cave into pressures to allow penalty-free early releases of Conservation Reserve Program land.
Even if USDA does not allow early-outs, millions of acres worth of CRP contracts expire in the next few years.  With high commodities prices, it is likely that many producers will not renew or extend their contracts.  To ensure the land going back into production is managed as sustainably as  possible, advocates successfully got a provision in the new farm bill that provides incentives for landowners to lease newly-expired CRP land to beginning farmers and ranchers who have  plans for conservation and land improvements.  The intent is to preserve the conservation value while fostering new farming opportunities.      

]]> Comment #3 by PermieWriter http://www.grist.org/article/carrots-sticks-and-crumbs/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:46:07 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/carrots-sticks-and-crumbs/3 A crumby deal

I suppose we should be grateful for the crumbs. Vital programs like ALBA have been subsisting on scraps from the big ag feast for years.

It's really hard to get into farming unless you were born into it, particularly in California where land is so expensive. We need small farms near the cities, where transportation costs can be contained, but farmers are vying for that land with developers. If the government doesn't step in to help, that land will host more mouths rather than crops.

Thank goodness for farmers like the Florentinos, who grow food where the people are. We'll need more and more farmers like them as food and fuel costs rise. An investment in local food security is one of the wisest long-term investments we can make right now.

Eat what you grow, grow what you eat

]]> A crumby deal

I suppose we should be grateful for the crumbs. Vital programs like ALBA have been subsisting on scraps from the big ag feast for years.

It's really hard to get into farming unless you were born into it, particularly in California where land is so expensive. We need small farms near the cities, where transportation costs can be contained, but farmers are vying for that land with developers. If the government doesn't step in to help, that land will host more mouths rather than crops.

Thank goodness for farmers like the Florentinos, who grow food where the people are. We'll need more and more farmers like them as food and fuel costs rise. An investment in local food security is one of the wisest long-term investments we can make right now.

Eat what you grow, grow what you eat

]]>