CPR for CRP???

CRP Program
A disturbing trend is on the horizon like a looming thunderhead across the Great Plains. It is one that has mixed emotions and something I am sadden to notice happening. The government has released figures stating that the total number of acreage of US farmland that is in the Conservation Reserve Program has declined sharply in the last year, primarily due to increased grain prices which has in part been driven by the lucrative, yet highly subsidized, corn ethanol boom.

For the international readers: 1 hectare = ~2.5 acres

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest government conservation program which pays farmers by the acre to take that acreage out of production. It was begun to offset the glut of grains that arose out of the era of over abundance and mass plantings. The old adage of planting fence post to fence post. This over abundance has, like cheap oil, made American's addicted to cheap food. As more countries strive to be more "American," meaning increased consumption of beef, dairy, and refined grain products, the global supply of grains have slowly been dwindling. Combine this with rising energy costs and environmental factors of droughts and floods and you are creating a perfect storm for protests.

If these farmers were taking these fields out of CRP rotation to help alleviate world hunger, I probably wouldn't cringe nearly as much...though I still do, but nearly all acreage being brought back into production will be used to grow corn! Corn to feed our livestock (which makes them sick, yet we like cheap steaks), make our terribly unhealthy snacks (What products don't have corn syrup in them?), feed our hailed savior of the energy crisis..ethanol. Can you tell I'm not a fan?

Not only will native species loose valuable habitat, but greater environmental damage will be done, thus hurting us (humans) in the long run. Increased pesticide inputs, fertilizer inputs, and diesel inputs all have detrimental effects. The 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico is caused by to much nitrogen in the water, primarily from runoff of corn fields, which causes algal blooms leading to the depletion of oxygen in the water. This leads to valuable fishing grounds in the Gulf being affected as well as the nations waterways, creating expensive purification processes for those communities who depend on those waterways for drinking water. I am opposed to this on many levels, the CRP program is one of the governments few success stories when it comes to environmental protection and I would hate to see the greedy consumeristic society that we have become lead us down a path in which will cause greater pain in the future.

I realize my posts have sort of been doom and gloom lately...just had to get on my soap box for a bit. Please keep coming back, as I have great posts in the works for some big dates in the next couple of weeks. Cheers!