A Winneshiek County farmer replies to Paul Johnson's comments: "I'm proud of the steps that my family and I have taken to protect the soil and water in our community."

Photo of rural Winneshiek County used courtesy of Randy Uhl

Recently, Former Iowa DNR Director Paul Johnson of Decorah said Congress' actions to increase its subsidies for crop insurance has resulted in a lot of land being taken out of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and turned into cropland.  Johnson lamented the trend (see his comments at http://www.decorahnews.com/news-stories/2012/08/3380.html

But Johnson's comments have brought a response from Decorah farmer Paul Hunter:

"As a farmer who not only has farmland enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) but who also farms land that had been previously enrolled in CRP, I thought a different perspective on the issue should be given.

To begin with I think it's important to realize why the CRP came about.  In the mid 1980's farmers were struggling.  Our ability to produce grain far outpaced the demand for our product.   The CRP was developed as a way to pay farmers to NOT plant a crop, thereby decreasing supply and hopefully raising prices.  Although it provided benefits to soil and water conservation, that wasn't the only reason it was developed.

When I graduated from college in the mid 1990's and came home to be part of the family farming operation,  the CRP program had a different, although unintended,  effect on me and many other young farmers.   The government was paying landowners more to keep their land idle than I was able to pay to rent the ground and farm it.  The government was competing against me for farm ground.  Not exactly an ideal situation for any of us who were just trying to get our farming operations off the ground.

Today the situation is much different.  Demand for corn, soybeans, and other farm products has increased dramatically.  CRP contracts are expiring and it is more profitable to farm those acres than it is to keep them idle.  The market is signaling the need to put those acres back into production to meet the food, fuel, and fiber needs of the world's increasing population.  

Don't be fooled into thinking farmers are taking every acre of sensitive land and using it to produce a crop.  In speaking with staff at the Farm Service Agency in Decorah I was told that CRP acres in Winneshiek County are down less than 1% compared to 7 or 8 years ago.  However there are dramatically more acres that are enrolled in programs to specifically address each individual farm's conservation needs.  We have greatly increased acres dedicated to grassed waterways, grassed headlands, streambank buffer zones and filter strips, terraces, and contour buffer strips.  When used properly these techniques can provide excellent soil and water conservation benefits while still allowing the land to be farmed.  

I'm proud of the steps that my family and I have taken to protect the soil and water in our community."