From: Debbie Neustadt
To : Iowa-Topics

The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition puts out a weekly newsletter. This 
weeks newsletter mentioned Conservation Security Program (CSP) and Iowa. 
This is a program that instead of paying farmers to growth a commodity 
it pays them to use conservation practices. The Coalition complied some 
facts about the program.  It mentions Iowa several times. Here are 
excerpts from that newsletter.


A few highlights:

* The US average per farm per year CSP contract value was $11,421 for 
the 2005 enrollment, with a range of just over $1,000 in Connecticut to 
nearly $30,000 in Georgia.

* The US average per acre per year payment rate was $13.83 in 2005, with 
east coast states generally near the top of the range and Plains and 
Mountain states generally near the bottom of the range.

* Nebraska and Iowa led the way in percentage of total farms in the 
watershed that enrolled in the program, with both approaching 20 
percent, compared to the national average of 5 percent.

* Oregon topped the list for percentage of total acres in the watershed 
enrolled in the program at 35 percent, with Iowa, Arkansas and Michigan 
all near 20 percent, compared to the 10 percent national average.

CSP Cheating Controversy Continues:  The case of 15 Washington state 
farmers accused of submitting altered soil test results in order to 
qualify for the CSP continues to make headlines in northwest papers.  
Washington state NRCS emphasizes that no evidence of widespread cheating 
has been found.  The 15 are subject to repayment of all contract funds 
plus a 20 percent penalty payment.  The problems were uncovered during 
routine spot checks.  Fourteen of the 15 cases have been appealed by the 
farmers involved.  Some may argue that the test results were not fudged 
but rather it's a matter of differing interpretations of the data.  To 
date, no similar problems have emerged in any other states.


-- 
  ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>
Deborah Neustadt
Des Moines, IA
Sierra Club
Water Committee, Chair
Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee, Member
Iowa Chapter, Executive Committee Member, Political Chair


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