From: "Niel Ritchie" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001
Subject: SUBSIDIES THAT SAVE; EDITORIALS

Farm Bill News ([log in to unmask])    Posted: 07/11/2001
By  <[log in to unmask]>
=============================================
The Ledger (Lakeland, FL)

July 7, 2001

SUBSIDIES THAT SAVE; EDITORIALS

Farm subsidies -- federal payments to farmers who grow major crops like
wheat and corn -- often run counter to the principles of good environmental
stewardship. In essence, the federal government ends up subsidizing farm
practices that contribute to soil erosion, water pollution and wetland
destruction.

But, in the past 15 years, a farm-subsidy program that pays farmers not to
grow crops -- but to dedicate lands for conservation purposes instead --
has resulted in the establishment of more than 35 million acres of natural
reserves and 1 million acres of protected wetlands. The conservation
program has proved so popular that farmers have applied for an additional $
3.7 billion in payments, promising to put another 68 million acres of land
into reserve in return.

The problem is that the farm-conservation program is out of money. And even
though a new farm bill moving through Congress proposes to spend $ 79
billion for subsidies over the next five years, there is resistance from
the agribusiness lobby to the idea of diverting funding away from crop
payments into conservation.

Now, an odd coalition of environmental groups and hunting and fishing
organizations -- from the Sierra Club to the National Rifle Association --
has banded together to try to convince Congress to earmark more money for
conservation in the new farm bill. It's a worthy purpose that deserves
consideration. Moreover, while major crop subsidies tend to benefit large
farming operations in the west and Midwest, the conservation program helps
smaller farmers in the eastern states, from Florida to Maine.

"We could turn this bill into the great conservation bill of the 21st
Century," Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisconsin, a supporter, told The New York Times
recently.

The NRA, which has an interest in preserving hunting lands, pitches the
conservation program as a means to help farmers "hold the line against
development." And the Sierra Club touts its environmental benefits. "When
farms go into overproduction, you have dirty water and dirty air," said
Sierra Club member Brett Hulsey to The Times. "With conservation programs,
you have clean water, reduced flooding and more open space."

Congress isn't likely to turn off the money tap to major crop producers.
But it should also try to minimize the damage done by such artificial
supports by continuing to fund the farmland conservation program. It's a
program that not only helps farmers, but protects the environment and
benefits hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Copyright 2001 Lakeland Ledger Publishing Corporation

###

Niel Ritchie, National Organizer
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
2105 First Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN  55404
(612)870-3405 Phone
(612)870-4846 Fax
http://www.iatp.org

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