Sodsaver Proposal
|  Video
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| Retha Colclasure |
| 1/31/2007 |
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| Some proposals for the 2007 Farm Bill are starting to gain momentum, and attention, as several provisions are getting support from agricultural and conservation groups in the Dakotas. One of those is the so-called Sodsaver provision, which would disallow federal farm program benefits on newly broken land. Ducks Unlimited helped create the sodsaver provision, and says it doesn`t prevent producers from using prairie grasslands for crops, but it does discourage that use. They say the provision is an important step to preserve native grasslands. The sodsaver provision would help protect native grasslands and wetlands, especially in the Missouri Coteau region. "Basically it would say new land would not be eligible for any sort of farm program benefits, like price supports, crop insurance, and disaster assistance, things like that," explains Ag Commissioner Roger Johnson. Ducks Unlimited proposed the provision to stop the conversion of native prairie across the eastern Dakotas. "It`s important to us because the grasslands and wetlands of the eastern Dakotas that make up the prairie pothole region are important not only for nesting waterfowl but vital to our ranching communities," says Scott McLeod of Duck Unlimited. The conservation group says this proposal would save taxpayers over a billion dollars over 10 years, and several conservation and agriculture groups in the Dakotas support the provision. "That helps Congress make decisions on the policies that they see best fit. USDA released priorities for the 2007 farm bill and it also included a sodsaver provision," says Johnson. Commissioner Johnson says there are benefits to the proposal. "Certainly we don`t want to put more incentives in place for people to be breaking out highly erodible land, that`s very clear." He says it would be difficult to figure out how to technically administer the proposal, and would have some environmental benefits. |
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