The bad news -- this is yet another request for phone calls.  I apologize, because I know we're all overloaded with them.   The good news -- word has it that just a moderate number of calls could put the prairie-protecting amendment below into the next Farm Bill.   So if you'd like to help prairies survive, this is a good opportunity.  Thanks for your interest in prairies, and please feel free to pass on the information below.

Cindy Hildebrand

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The information below is from the Midwest Sustainable Ag Working Group.  (A phone call is recommended because Senate offices vary in how much and how quickly they pay attention to email, and postal mail is still backed up because of the anthrax scare.)     Please feel free to send this message on.   Thanks!

Just a few calls on a key Senate amendment would add protection for prairies in the pending Farm Bill!

By February 8th, please call your senators and ask them to support the "Durbin grasslands amendment."

Here’s how:
* Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senator by name.
* Ask to speak with the legislative aide who handles agriculture. 
* If you get voice mail, leave a short message. 
* If you have trouble getting through to offices in D.C., please call your Senator’s district office. You can find this number in the government pages of your local phone book. 
* Make sure the district office understands that they are to communicate your message to the D.C. office. 

More background on this Durbin amendment: Senator Durbin (D-IL) has filed and intends to offer an amendment to limit the negative impact of commodity and crop insurance subsidies on soil erosion, water quality, and wildlife habitat.  The Durbin amendment would protect native prairie and other grasslands by denying farm commodity program and crop insurance subsidies on non-cropland converted to crop production in the future.  The Durbin amendment is projected to save $1.4 billion, some or all of which is likely to be redirected to the food stamp program.

The amendment is a common sense extension of existing law withholding taxpayer support to those who "sodbust" highly erodible land.  The Durbin proposal would extend protection to all land without a crop production history, recognizing the important soil and wildlife benefits to be gained by keeping fragile lands intact.  The amendment also would lessen incentives to increase production beyond levels supported by the market, reducing downward pressure on crop prices and farm income.  The amendment is carefully crafted to cover land without a cropping history in at least one of the last five (or three of the past ten) years, while exempting land in long term rotations.  The exemption is important to ensure there are no unintended consequences for farms and ranches using environmentally sound, grass-based systems with occasional or sequenced cropping.

Please Call Both of Your Senators TODAY!    

Distributed by the Midwest Sustainable Ag Working Group, a coalition working for a system of agriculture that is economically profitable, environmentally sound, family-farm based, and socially just: [log in to unmask]

For more on the Farm Bill, visit www.sustainableagriculture.net

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Cindy Hildebrand
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Ames, IA  50010