Here\u2019s how to increase the impact of these already popular conservation programs.<\/p>\n
[Tweet “How Congress can help farmers stay profitable and resilient with the next farm bill, via @GrowingReturnshttps:\/\/edf.org\/7gQ”]<\/p>\n
Conservation programs<\/strong><\/p>\n U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs protect more than just natural resources. Row crop farmers can get expert advice from soil scientists on nutrient management plans, saving them money and increasing their yield. New and beginning farmers can also get the assistance they need to establish their business with a plan to operate for the long haul.<\/p>\n Of course, the environment will benefit from these programs, too. For example, livestock producers can work with USDA\u2019s Natural Resources Conservation Service experts to build an effective manure management system that removes waste from their operation without harming groundwater.<\/p>\n And with some small changes to the conservation provisions in the farm bill, members of Congress can do even more to help producers and the planet:<\/p>\n Private sector collaborations<\/strong><\/p>\n The market demand for sustainably produced grain<\/a> is strong \u2013 and growing. Retailers and companies including Walmart, Campbell\u2019s Soup, Kellogg\u2019s, Unilever, Smithfield Foods and Land O\u2019Lakes are all working to help the growers in their sourcing areas farm more sustainably, connecting them with the tools and resources necessary to reduce input costs and increase yields. Similarly, the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative<\/a>, a diverse group of companies and environmental organizations, is working to support wheat, corn and soy growers\u2019 use of conservation practices that protect yields while enhancing soil health and reducing nutrient loss into streams and air.<\/p>\n But all of this private sector movement is not nearly enough \u2013 if we don\u2019t align key federal policies with this unprecedented supply chain momentum, we will hit roadblocks that will compromise any environmental improvements. Federal policy lags behind \u2013 and in some cases threatens to hold back \u2013 private sector innovation.<\/p>\n Improving collaboration between USDA and the private-sector advisers that work with the vast majority of U.S. farmers (ag retail, agronomists and others) will enable federal programs to better meet the needs of farmers and agribusinesses, resulting in more conservation on the ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the first field hearing for the 2018 farm bill held in Kansas last week, producers had one clear message for the Senate Agriculture Committee: the stakes for farmers have never been higher. Commodity prices are the lowest they\u2019ve been in over a decade, and farmers\u2019 incomes are predicted to drop nearly 10 percent this …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95162,"featured_media":7479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120554],"tags":[74299,30,84864,74347,84934,85071,84877,71802,85140,85139,57126,61056,57324,421,39994],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-7454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-campbells","tag-farm-bill","tag-fertilizer-efficiency","tag-kelloggs","tag-land-olakes","tag-midwest-row-crop-collaborative","tag-natural-resources-conservation-service","tag-nrcs","tag-secretary-of-agriculture","tag-senate-agriculture-committee","tag-smithfield","tag-soil-health","tag-u-s-department-of-agriculture","tag-usda","tag-walmart"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7454"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16344,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7454\/revisions\/16344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7454"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2017\/02\/Corn-field-Flickr-user-Mads-Hugo-Pedersen-300x161.jpg\")
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