Farm conservation is a win for everyone

A month ago, we signed up 34 farm acres into the Conservation Reserve Program, pending this Oct. 1. Well, that was withdrawn by Farm Service Agency earlier in the month and upgraded.

So I went to the local FSA Office and signed anew the 34 acres with the FSA. Now, the pending contract proposal offers an additional $54 per acre.

Over a fifteen-year period, that is $27,540 more dollars.

Providing income support to family farmers is essential to our survival. Plus, providing enhanced payments to enroll farm acres increases grain market prices. This is accomplished by taking more acres out of grain production through offering this attractive CRP payment. Thereby, in turn, the amount of grain available in the marketplace shrinks as not as much is grown, resulting in grain prices increasing ——simple law of supply and demand.

Furthermore, increasing farm acres in the CRP program reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change. This is owing to CRP acres requiring that native prairie plants be established. These plants capture carbon and then store carbon beneath the ground.

As a result, everyone wins from this expansive conservation plan.

John Clayton

Grinnell