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Re: another quick way to help prairies (Farm Bill update)

I have a question regarding the Durbin amendment. If I had a 100 acre prairie couldn't I plow it up, plant it to soybeans for one year without any federal payments then qualify for payments after that? I know af several cases where land has been broken up and planted to a crop for 2 years at a loss in order to qualify for crp payments.    Wayne Morton

  Grantridge@aol.com wrote:

The Farm Bill is likely to be debated in the U.S. Senate any day.   By calling your Senators and asking them to support the Durbin amendment, you can support the protection of prairies (and other natural areas) and help stop your tax dollars from funding their destruction.     The information below is from "Rural Updates."   The Durbin amendment is also being supported by the National Wildlife Federation and some other groups (though that's no guarantee it will pass, and phone calls are needed.)   Many thanks if you've already contacted your senators on behalf of prairie conservation in the Farm Bill!

Cindy Hildebrand
Ames, Iowa

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Senator Durbin is expected to offer an amendment to the Farm Bill (S. 1731) that will help protect native grasslands and wetlands AND benefit farmers.  His amendment addresses the dual problems of "overproduction" and "breaking out native lands" by limiting federal farm subsidies TO LAND THAT HAS BEEN CROPPED ONCE in the last five years.   (Land already enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program is not included.)   Under the Durbin amendment, farmers would not be prohibited from plowing new land, but they would not receive federal commodity subsidies to do so.  PLEASE ASK YOUR SENATOR TO SUPPORT THE DURBIN AMENDMENT.   For background information on this amendment see:  http://www.familyfarmer.org/sections/action/durbin.html 


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