Originally
published Vol. 4, Issue 2 (April 2006)
Conservation compliance
effectiveness depends on where the money goes
Roger
Claassen
USDA’s Conservation Compliance
Program was designed to ensure that Federal farm
programs did not encourage crop production on highly
erodible land (HEL) in the absence of measures to
protect against soil erosion. Under this program,
farmers who grow crops on HEL must apply an approved
soil conservation system or risk losing eligibility
for Federal income support, conservation, and other
payments.
The effectiveness of conservation
compliance in enhancing soil conservation depends,
in part, on the extent to which farms that crop
HEL also receive Federal farm program payments.
Overall, 86 percent of all cropland and about 83
percent of highly erodible cropland is located on
farms that receive farm program payments.
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