Paying Farmers Not to Farm: Everyone Benefits!

Photo Used With Permission: C. Schneider, Iowa - USDA

Background:

Some farmland areas would make great habitat for ducks and deer. The same land could be used to hold rainwater and snow melt so that it does not run into rivers too quickly. However, farmers cannot raise crops on land that is used in these ways. In most cases, this land is not great for crops, but it is still better than nothing. The government uses tax money to pay farmers not to grow crops on such areas. Whether this is necessary and how much money should be provided are always controversial.

Activities: (pick one)

• Write an editorial for your local paper urging your congresspersons to support Conservation Reserve Program or Wetland Reserve Program legislation.
• Write a newspaper article explaining to farmers the long-term benefits of accepting modest subsidies to set aside low-yield land for conservation purposes.

Primary Internet Resources

How original wetlands were formed, the functions wetlands serve in nature, and how they can be restored.

What is CRP and what might happens if it ends?

Lists ways the public benefits from land taken out of production.

CRP and Waterfowl in North Dakota

Latest CRP Update from North Dakota Outdoors

Secondary Sources

Swamp Buster Provisions

Wetland Reserve Program

Sustainable Agriculture

More North Dakota Ducks

North Dakota Outdoors CRP Article (1993)

There are many World Wide Web pages that provide information appropriate to this project. Use a web search engine to find more information.

 

This project is based on the concept of WebQuests

A version of this project appears in Grabe and Grabe -Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning, HMCO and is copyrighted.