Farmers accustomed to grappling with small wet, low-lying areas located smack dab in the middle of their fields will be glad to hear that sign-up has begun for a newly created conservation program that offers eligible producers economic incentives to restore these wetlands and adjacent buffers by taking them out of production for conservation purposes.
Administered through the 16-year-old Conservation Reserve Program, the Farmable Wetlands Pilot program gives producers in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota the opportunity to enroll up to 40 acres per tract if they meet the following eligibility requirements: the land must previously have had an agricultural commodity planted 3 of the last 10 crop years; a wetland must be 5 acres or less; a buffer may not exceed the greater of 3 times the size of the wetland or an average of 150 feet on either side of the wetland; and producers agree to take restorative measures to reconstruct the wetland as best as possible.
In the current fiscal year, the USDA estimates that 33.9 million U.S. crop acres will be enrolled in the CRP and by next year an additional 500,000 environmentally fragile crop acres are anticipated to be enrolled in this new wetlands conservation program. Unlike the CRP, the sign-up for the wetlands pilot program is not competitive and eligible acres are automatically accepted. Keep in mind that Iowa may enroll up to 100,000 acres. Contracts run from 10 to 15 years in exchange for annual rental payments, incentive payments and cost-sharing agreements for conservation practices.
Restoring wetlands helps keep the earth’s natural ecosystem intact. Wetlands help mitigate downstream flood damage, improve surface water quality and protect groundwater supplies. This new conservation program will remove the financial penalty for farmers who embrace practices that allow Mother Nature to work her wonders on soil, air and water quality.
Interested farmers should contact their local Farm Service Agency to sign up and get the full details. As a lifelong family farmer, I can appreciate the many financial and environmental decisions that individual farmers must make each crop year. Such decisions play into a farmer’s bottom line and impact the environmental health of the land, air and water affected by his farming operation.
Good public policy ought to recognize the challenges farmers face in their efforts to strike a balance between earning a decent living and continuing smart stewardship of the earth’ s natural resources. For generations, farmers across Iowa have tilled their fields and made a spring covenant to treat the land with care and respect, asking for a bountiful harvest in return. A farmer’s productivity may be measured in bushels per acre, but his ability to sustain his livelihood off the land can be traced to sensitive land, air, and water quality management and conservation practices.
Through its arsenal of conservation assistance programs, the USDA can help producers keep a farmer’s promise: to earn a decent living, preserve natural resources, enhance the environment and feed a growing world population.