Farm Bill

Nitrogen Pollution’s Farm Policy Roots

June 28, 2013
Brian DeVore
agriculture, Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Groundwater management, Loon Commons blog, Water
corn, crop insurance, dead zone, diverse agriculture, Farm Bill, federal farm policy, Land Stewardship Project, monocrops, MPCA, nitrates, nitrogen fertilizer, perennials, row crops, tile drainage, water pollution, watersheds

By Adam Warthesen, Land Stewardship Project Talk about ignoring the elephant in the room. When Minnesota environmental officials announced the results of a new major nitrogen pollution study on Thursday, they were…
Minnesota Farmers: CSP is on for 2013

March 29, 2013
Brian DeVore
agriculture, Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Land Conservation, Loon Commons blog
Conservation Stewardship Program, continuing resolution, cover crops, CSP, diverse crop rotations, Farm Bill, Land Stewardship Project, soil conservation, sustainable agriculture, USDA, working lands conservation

By Adam Warthesen, Land Stewardship Project One of the nation’s most innovative working lands farm conservation initiatives has received a financial reprieve, thanks to the continuing resolution signed by President Barack Obama…
The (Growing) High Price of an Unreformed Crop Insurance Program

February 1, 2013
Brian DeVore
agriculture, Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Loon Commons blog
agricultural subsidies, climate change, commodity program, corporate welfare, crop insurance, Farm Bill, farms, Land Stewardship Project, rowcrop agriculture

By Adam Warthesen, Land Stewardship Project Just when you think the facts and figures around federal subsidized crop insurance can’t get any more outlandish, new numbers emerge exposing the out-of-control spending and…
Senate Listens to Public & Makes Crop Insurance More Accountable to the Environment

June 22, 2012
Brian DeVore
agriculture, Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Loon Commons blog
conservation compliance, Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, crop insurance, Farm Bill, farm conservation, Land Stewardship Project, Senate, Senator Al Franken, Senator Amy Klobuchar, soil erosion, stewardship, sustainable agriculture, wetlands

The U.S. Senate passed its version of the 2012 Farm Bill this week. While it’s far from perfect, specific amendments related to conservation and accountability that were passed during the floor vote…
Rolling Our Land To Death

June 8, 2012
Brian DeVore
agriculture, Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Loon Commons blog
conservation, corn, crop insurance, Farm Bill, land rollers, Land Stewardship Project, row crops, Senate Farm Bill, soil erosion, soybeans, stewardship, tillage

I sat in a farmhouse one afternoon last month as a hot wind lifted rich topsoil from surrounding fields. On the drive in, I’d noticed a surprising amount of rill erosion on…
Coalition to Congressional Delegation: Incorporate Minnesota principles into Farm Bill

April 18, 2012
Minnesota Environmental Partnership
federal government, federal policy, Loon Commons blog
2012 Farm Bill, Farm Bill

Thirty-six organizations recently sent a letter to Minnesota’s Congressional delegation asking for their support in helping Minnesota through parts of the Federal Farm Bill. Read the full letter here (pdf). Excerpt from…
Crop Insurance: A Safety Net Becomes a Threat

April 12, 2012
Brian DeVore
agriculture, Food and Sustainable Agriculture, Loon Commons blog
agricultural subsidies, beginning farmers, commodity groups, commodity program, commodity subsidies, commodity title, crop insurance, CRP, direct payments, Farm Bill, LSP, revenue assurance, revenue insurance, risk management, row crops, soil erosion, USDA

When it comes to the crop insurance sweepstakes, southwest Minnesota farmer Darwyn Bach is a winner. But he concedes that his good fortune presents a quandary, since the way the program is…
USDA Secretary: You Can Make Conservation History

April 4, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
2012 Farm Bill, agriculture policy, Conservation Stewardship Program, Dust Bowl, Farm Bill, Great Depression, Mark Schultz, Soil Conservation Service, soil erosion, USDA, Vilsack

An April 1 letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack from LSP Associate Director Mark Schultz: Congress and the Obama Administration are currently evaluating measures aimed at reducing federal spending for the present…
Ag Conservation’s Unfair Burden

March 4, 2011
Brian DeVore
Food and Sustainable Agriculture
commodity program, Conservation Stewardship Program, CSP, EQIP, Farm Bill, farm policy, House, Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, Senate, sustainable agriculture, working lands conservation

At a time when the budget mantra “we must all share in the pain” is being repeated ad nauseam, it doesn’t take much searching to find some hypocritical exceptions. Take, for example,…