Farm Bill May Boost Dust Levels Legislation Could Reduce Participation In Conservation Program
Dust blowing into Spokane could greatly increase under the new farm bill if officials don’t bend the rules on who qualifies for a massive soil conservation program, farmers warned Monday.
Farmers told a panel of federal officials in Spokane that dryland wheat farmers may not qualify - or collect enough money from the government - to renew their Conservation Reserve Program contracts under the Federal Agricultural Improvement Reform Act.
That means up to 1 million acres of highly erodible Washington farmland that’s been preserved since 1985 could go back into production, creating a vast new source for dust storms.
“When we break that ground out we have the potential for releasing more dust than anywhere in the United States,” said Bill Loomis, an Adams and Franklin counties farmer and equipment dealer. “Farmers want to keep their land in CRP, but they won’t have any way to do it.”
The act, which sets farm policy through 2002, was signed by President Clinton earlier this month. CRP is one of several conservation programs estimated to cost taxpayers $2.2 billion a year.
Conducting the first of eight national forums, the Natural Resources Conservation Service panel met in Spokane to gather recommendations for writing final rules before the law kicks in July 3.
Thousands of Washington landowners have signed 10-year CRP contracts to idle erodible ground and protect the soil from water and wind erosion. In exchange, the government pays them an annual average of $50 an acre.
But farmers said new rules, adopted last year and written into the farm bill, benefit Midwest farmers suffering from water erosion. The method of calculating payments also changed, reducing payments to Inland Northwest farmers.
Farmers worry that USDA rule makers this spring will continue to emphasize wetlands. And with wheat prices at 20-year highs, farmers may be tempted to bust out their sod to plant a crop.
“The fear is that rates paid to drier parts of the state will go down,” said Lynn Brown, Washington state conservationist.
, DataTimes