Lest we forget floods, another potential result from changing weather patterns due to climate change. Photo: US Fish & Wildlife Service

“What does it mean, in terms of our agricultural economy, if we don’t do more to curb the greenhouse gas issues we’re facing?” Cowan asked.

A good question, and members of Congress don’t ask it often enough. Farmers, and subsequently consumers, are already feeling the effects of climate change. Dr. Joe Glauber, Chief Economist of the USDA, answered the question by discussing a recent USDA report that included these key messages, paraphrased below:

• Bad news: Climate change will have an impact on agricultural productivity, but
• Good news: there are steps we can take to curb emissions and lessen the negative impacts of climate change.

The report explains that the economic effects of climate change on agriculture depend on a complex web of factors. For example, climate change can impact the livestock industry through the price of feed grains, competition for pasture land, and changing patterns of pests and diseases. How it all plays out could very well depend on how the livestock industry adapts to climate change. Farmers could build livestock shelters to protect their animals from extreme temperatures, but how will farmers protect livestock from the less predictable changes in disease distribution?

Climate change is already costing us. Continuing to use the agricultural economy as an example, consider the hefty price tag of the drought of 2012; it cost taxpayers $14.2 billion in crop insurance alone. Our pocketbooks will be feeling the cost of rising food prices throughout 2013. That is why it is even more important to take action and promote agricultural policies that encourage climate-friendly farming.

As several agricultural producers testified in the hearing, conservation practices have the potential to make farming systems more resilient to changing weather patterns.  For example, conservation tillage practices and cover crops have the potential to improve soil health so that the soil holds more water and sequesters more carbon, keeping harmful greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and making agricultural land more productive.

 Sometimes people ask me why NWF is involved in the fight on climate change.  I work on agricultural issues, but all natural systems are connected. There is no greater threat to wildlife than climate change; it’s that simple.  A recent report by NWF shows the urgency of acting to protect wildlife against climate impacts. That is why I hope you’ll join us this Sunday at the “Forward on Climate Rally” in DC, or consider financially supporting our work.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s a romantic view of farmers, but still it resonates with me. I grew up around farmers and the FFA and I don’t believe there’s a more important vocation on the planet. Farmers carry a lot of responsibilities, looking after the land, feeding their own families, and also producing food for the world. As I watched, I wondered why Dodge chose the Super Bowl to deliver that message of appreciation to farmers.

Maybe it was a show of solidarity after a hard year. First, there was the 2012 drought, one of the worst in recent history. Then, the House of Representatives and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) let farmers down everywhere when they dropped the ball and failed to get a five-year farm bill on the floor.

But for me the Super Bowl commercial evoked an important question: What is the most important role of farmers in our society? It has always been my belief that one of the most important duties is farming the land in a way that protects the earth, and maintains natural resources for the next generation. Liberty Hyde Bailey, a Michigan farmer’s son and agrarian philosopher who lived over a hundred years ago, put it this way:

“We shall conceive of the earth, which is the common habitation, as inviolable. One does not act rightly toward one’s fellows if one does not know how to act rightly toward the earth.” – Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Holy Earth, 1915

Most of the lifelong farmers that I know share Bailey’s views. However, high crop prices, combined with farm subsidies have created a situation that removes the natural risks of farming.  As a result, some farmers are draining wetlands, and grasslands are being plowed up in the Prairie Pothole Region and Great Plains.

We need farmers, and we need to help support farmers as they provide food for the world, while still promoting good stewardship of the land. Two things need to happen in 2013:

1. Congress needs to pass a farm bill.
2. The farm bill must contain a conservation compliance provision and a Sodsaver provision.  This will close the loophole that eliminates natural risks and rewards bad practices.

Please consider writing personally to your Senator and Congressional Representative about this issue, and let s/he know that this is an important issue to you, and why.

“We were too selfish and we were trying to make money. It didn’t work out.” – Dust Bowl Survivor quoted in Ken Burns’s documentary, The Dust Bowl

Wednesday night, I attended an early preview of Ken Burns’ documentary, The Dust Bowl, which will be airing on PBS November the 18th. Mr. Burns presented 6 clips from the film, followed by a panel discussion that also included Dust Bowl survivor Cal Crabill, National Geographic editor Peter Miller, and CBS news correspondent Jim Axelrod.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As a former student of soil science and the history of agriculture in America, I was more than passingly familiar with the story of the Dust Bowl as a cautionary tale of the consequences of the coincidence of human greed, government policy, and extreme climate conditions. As I know the story, a favorable market for crops, speculation from wealthy investors, and encouragement from the federal government led to a massive plow-up of land in the Midwest and Plains States during the 1930s. This was before modern soil conservation practices evolved, when people really believed that their activities would not harm the land.

“The soil is the one indestructible, immutable asset that the nation possesses.  It is one resource that cannot be exhausted, that cannot be used up.” – Federal Bureau of Soils, 1909

We now know the above quote is not true. It is possible for humans to cause incredible, and even irreversible damage to our natural resources. The soil is resilient, but it is not indestructible.

Watching the film brought the human dimension of the Dust Bowl and its aftermath to life in my mind. I can’t imagine what it was like for people to sit in the dark in their own homes, covering their faces with flour sacks or pieces of cloth to keep from breathing in the dirt as black clouds of dust raced by just outside their walls. I can’t imagine the aftermath of poverty, when people’s lives were destroyed and their sources of income depleted, so that mothers went to extreme measures to find lost dimes to feed their children.

Photo: Arthur Rothstein, 1936. Library of Congress. Farm family walks through a dust storm near Cimarron County, Oklahoma.

Right now, market conditions are encouraging farmers to plant fence row to fence row, breaking out new land in the Midwest and Plains and destroying what native grasslands remain. This past summer, one of the worst droughts in recent history created ideal conditions for dust storms. Indeed, yesterday, in Oklahoma, a dust storm caused “near blackout visibility” and a 30 car pile-up, resulting in injuries, damage to property, and the risk of human life.

It is crucial that our government policies do not encourage us to repeat past mistakes. That is why NWF has been fighting to get a national Sodsaver provision applied to the next Farm Bill. The Great Plains of the past that supported vast herds of buffalo and antelope are long gone, but our remaining grasslands are home to a wide array of wildlife, such as pheasants, prairie dogs, and songbirds. It is very important that we don’t lose what little grassland remains. We should remember the lessons of the Dust Bowl, and think not just about what could happen to wildlife, but also what could happen to human beings if we try to do too much on the land.

Let Congress know that you want a national Sodsaver provision in the next Farm Bill.  This is a small step we can take to make sure taxpayer dollars aren’t funding the same kind of activities that contributed to the Dust Bowl.

My job is to update you on the wildlife impacts of Farm Bill developments from the past few months and give you an idea of what conservation’s future might look like, if the Farm Bill doesn’t pass by September, 21st (Please see my previous blog for a basic explanation of what the Farm Bill is and how it affects wildlife).

Recap: Senate and House Bills

On September 12, 2012, farm groups gathered in front of the Capitol to urge Congress to pass the Farm Bill now. National Wildlife Federation staff attended.

• It maintains an adequate level of funding for conservation programs;
• It contains a national Sodsaver provision to protect native grasslands;
• And it requires that farmers receiving taxpayer-funded crop insurance premium subsidies protect the public good by following a soil conservation plan on highly erodible land and refrain from draining wetlands (known as conservation compliance).

After the Senate bill passed, it was the House’s turn to pass their own version. The House Agriculture Committee moved quickly to pass H.R. 6830, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012. Although the House version maintained a similar level of funding to conservation in comparison to the Senate bill, it lacked important protection for wildlife. The House bill’s version of Sodsaver only applied to the Prairie Pothole Region, despite efforts by Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) to extend Sodsaver nationally and protect native grasslands nationwide. The House version also lacked conservation compliance provisions in exchange for crop insurance premium subsidies. However, if brought to the House floor, members of Congress will have the chance to apply Sodsaver to the entire nation, and apply important soil and water conservation provisions, as Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) did on the Senate floor.

Unfortunately, the Farm Bill is stalled. There are only 3 days left on the Congressional calendar before the 2008 Farm Bill expires on September 30th, 2012, and the House leadership still hasn’t allowed the Farm Bill to go to the floor. Although Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) filed a discharge petition to force the House to a vote, it is unlikely the petition will get enough signatures before the Farm Bill expires.

What will happen if the 2008 Farm Bill expires?

The longer it takes to pass a farm bill, the worse things will be for conservation. According to the Congressional Research Service, funding for some conservation programs, including the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) was extended beyond the Farm Bill until September 2014, by the FY2012 Agriculture Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-55); however, that appropriation contains significant cuts to all those programs.

But the Farm Bill expiration isn’t the only thing affecting conservation funding right now. In an effort to keep the government running  until March 2013, the House has passed a continuing resolution which would cap some conservation programs and cut others. If the House votes on a Farm Bill in the lame duck session after the November election, there is still another chance to restore vital conservation funding.  If Congress waits until next year to vote on the Farm Bill, the process will have to start all over again and conservation will continue to be a target for disproportionate budget cuts.

Will the agricultural world as we know it come to an end?

Old barns might still be pretty, but old farm laws are not. The Farm Bill has to keep moving forward to keep up with the times. Photo credit: flickr, cwwycoff1

So, no, the world isn’t going to end if the Farm Bill doesn’t pass by September 30th. That being said, I am hugely disappointed in this turn of events. I would like to believe that our elected officials can work together and get things done. A Farm Bill that pleases everyone may not exist. But I believe that with hard, bipartisan work, Congress can pass a Farm Bill we can stand behind. There is still time left, and a bill is so close. Yet so far.

What can you do to make sure mayhem doesn’t ensue and wildlife is protected?

Follow the link to ask your representative to extend the important wildlife protection provisions from the Senate version to the House version of the Bill, whenever it comes to the floor.

UPDATE: September 20th: House Speaker John Boehner announced that the Farm Bill will not go to the House floor until after November elections.  

When most people think about fighting climate change, they think about driving less, using wind power, or protecting carbon sinks like the rainforest.  However, cover crops are a farm practice that sequester carbon, improve water quality and improve a farmer’s profitability all at the same time.

Indiana farmer Ray McCormick visited National Wildlife Federation’s Washington, D.C. advocacy center recently to speak to Congress about the importance of conservation; while he was here, he shared with us the reasons he is so enthusiastic about cover crops.

Cover crops are exactly what they sound like; they are non-commodity crops that cover the soil during the winter when fields are usually left bare (hence the title of this blog). Some popular examples are annual ryegrass, winter wheat, clover, and radish.

Cover crops:

• Reduce soil erosion, resulting in more topsoil on the land and less in the streams;
• Increase soil  nutrients and organic matter, leading to more long-term soil productivity and less need to fertilize crops;
• Provide ground cover that serves as wildlife habitat and forage in the winter;
• Sequester carbon in the soil and from the atmosphere, reducing greenhouse gases; and
• If grown correctly, can improve soil moisture.

A Farmer’s Perspective

Watch the video for Ray’s take on cover crops.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cover crops are gaining popularity as a farming practice for good reason. “Don’t Farm Naked” is an unofficial slogan developed by cover crop enthusiasts to show support for this practical and beneficial farming practice. The Practical Farmers of Iowa created awesome ”Don’t Farm Naked” t-shirts and the Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard offers additional perspective on cover crops.

Cover crops are a great way to improve air and water quality while providing food and habitat for wildlife.  However, incentives for farmers to use conservation practices may be in danger if the proper protections are not included in the next Farm Bill. Make sure Congress knows you care that wildlife protections are in place in the 2012 Farm Bill.

The black-tailed prairie dog is a species of conservation need in Texas. Photo Credit: Bureau of Land Management

What Happened

Wednesday, July 11th, the House Agriculture Committee sat for nearly 13 hours working through amendments to the Farm Bill. While the House bill maintained the same overall level of funding for conservation as the Senate’s version of the bill, it failed to protect grasslands across the country.

Sodsaver limits federal subsidies for native grasslands that are broken out for farming. Although the House bill includes a sodsaver provision, it only applies to the Prairie Pothole Region. While the Prairie Potholes are an extremely important and imperiled region, especially for migratory birds, native grasslands are important habitat nationwide. Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), along with Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), offered an amendment that would extend this provision to the entire nation, protecting prairies throughout the country. However, the sponsoring members were forced to withdraw the amendment before the Committee could vote, due to strong opposition from Lucas and Conaway, who wished to exempt Texas and Oklahoma from sodsaver.

I am troubled most by the following arguments from Conaway and Lucas: they didn’t seem to think conversion of grassland into farmland is a problem in their states, and they argued farmers have a right to subsidies without holding any responsibility to taxpayers.  Chairman Lucas stated, “for me in Oklahoma, and my friend in Texas, this is a private property issue.”

Why Sodsaver is not a Private Property Issue

To quote the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, “Wildlife in Oklahoma belongs to the people of Oklahoma even though 95 percent of Oklahoma is privately-owned.” In other words, private landowners have a responsibility to everyone when it comes to wildlife conservation.

Receiving federal funds is not a landowner’s right. My family owns farmland in Tennessee, and we don’t want anyone to tell us how we have to use it. But we also don’t expect the government to subsidize any initiative we undertake. Sodsaver does not take away the rights of landowners to convert grassland into cropland. It merely ensures that they do not receive taxpayer dollars for practices that harm the public. Yet Sodsaver ensures farmers are free to do whatever they wish with their land.

Why Texas and Oklahoma Grasslands Need Protection

Unbroken land is not in use because it is not the most productive cropland. Without federal incentives combined with high crop prices, it would not be put into use. However, when taxpayers subsidize the risk, landowners convert valuable wildlife habitat and rangeland into crops . According to the USDA, total cropland acreage increased across the US in 2012.  In Texas, cropland increased by about 1.6 million acres from 2011 to 2012 – the second highest increase of any state.

Texas and Oklahoma are both home to many grassland species. The Texas Parks & Wildlife has classified many grassland mammals, insects, birds, and plants as “species of greatest conservation need,” including the black-tailed prairie dog.

Oklahoma crop acreage also increased in 2012 by approximately 600,000 acres. A national sodsaver provision is critical for protecting the habitat of grassland wildlife such as the Lesser Prairie Chicken, which is in danger of being listed as an endangered species and is part of conservation efforts in Oklahoma.

Lesser Prairie Chicken. Photo Credit: Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

What You Can Do

Let Congress know you want the best wildlife protections included in the House Farm Bill.

“The sound is just a long drawn out ‘boom’; you can just tell it’s a very old song that’s been going on for thousands of years. Kind of like an alarm clock in spring telling you to wake up; it’s something you have to experience, I can’t describe it.” – Aaron Price

Nebraska rancher Aaron Price is referring to the “boom” of the male prairie chicken calling for a mate in spring. The distinctive sound is accompanied by a dance that we can enjoy courtesy of You-tube in this video of a South Dakota grassland prairie chicken.

Click here to view the embedded video.

But videos can’t compete with a real life experience. If you want to see the prairie chicken dance in person, you can go to the First Annual 2012 Nebraska Prairie Chicken Festival hosted by Calamus Outfitters and the Gracie Creek Landowners.

The event is organized by landowners of three ranches that border each other in Nebraska. Due to the good stewardship of the ranch owners over the years, greater prairie chickens have been thriving. Sarah Sortum of Calamus Outfitters, who is organizing the event, says that the landowners “wanted to do something, because we were really just excited about what we’ve been doing, the birds, and what we have to offer. We weren’t sure how to get the word out, so we came up with the festival idea. Landowners are excited to show the project area and educate the public that by and large private landowners are responsible stewards—sometimes we get a bad rap. And we also just want to have fun.”

Two Greater Prairie Chickens dance on a lek on Gracie Creek Ranch, Nebraska. Photo by Aaron Price

“It’s kind of like a fraternity, a bunch of guys trying to pair up and push the weaker ones out of the territory and attract females. The males group up normally in twos and try to work their way to the middle.”

After the early morning dance, the festival begins with a Native American traditional prairie chicken dance. Each day there are  activities: ranch tours, kids activities, and talks from several speakers –  including keynote speaker Michael Forsberg, a celebrated conservation photographer.

The Nebraska festival is one of several events celebrating the prairie chicken; there are also festivals in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, attended by many people who celebrate wildlife. Sortum and the other landowners have been doing a lot worth celebrating. Says Sortum:

“We have a comprehensive stewardship plan, with an umbrella of biodiversity goals we’re working toward: controlling invasives, restoring native hydrology, implementing grazing management. You come to find out there’s a reason people live here—they love to see the wildlife and the grasslands. It’s a form of community planning, even though we’re a rural community. What do we want our resource to look like in the next 20 years?”

Photo Credit: Aaron Price

1. Take a trip!  Visit the Calamus Outfitters website to read more about how to attend the  2012 Nebraska Prairie Chicken Festival, and go see the dance.  And don’t miss Ryan Stockwell of NWF, who will be speaking the 21st on the importance of the Farm Bill in protecting grasslands.
2. Write to your Congressman or Senator and ask them to help the Lesser Prairie Chicken and other grassland species by adding a Sodsaver provision to the next Farm Bill, which will protect native grasslands from being converted to cropland while keeping land available for grazing.

Sodsaver is a proposed provision for the 2012 Farm Bill that makes land that has never been cropped ineligible for farm bill benefits. Sodsaver is particularly important because it would help protect America’s remaining native grasslands.

Under conservation compliance, landowners who receive farm bill benefits must follow a conservation plan on highly erodible land and refrain from draining wetlands. Compliance is already part of the farm bill, but it doesn’t apply to crop insurance,  which is now the largest federal subsidy to farmers.  Unless conservation compliance is connected to crop insurance in the next Farm Bill, millions of  acres of wetlands could be drained, and soil erosion will increase.

 3 Reasons Why Compliance and Sodsaver Make Sense

Western Meadowlark, Photo Credit John and Karen Hollingsworth

1. Declining grasslands, wetlands, and native ecosystems are valuable public resources that need protection. Native prairie and grasslands are extremely valuable habitat for wildlife species, such as the Western Meadowlark, pictured right. A 2010 NWF article states that “40% of the entire continent’s declining bird species are those that depend on grasslands.” Wetlands are crucial wildlife habitats that also need protection; in Iowa alone, 99% of native wetlands have been lost over time, according to North Carolina State University. In addition to providing food and habitat for thousands of migratory birds and other animals, wetlands benefit the public by filtering nutrients and contaminants from water and absorbing excess water during floods.
2. High crop prices are tempting farmers and landowners to grow crops on marginal or previously uncropped land. Last year was a record year for agriculture, with high exports and projected net farm incomes reaching a 10-year high according to USDA’s Economic Research Service. High crop prices encourage investors to get into the market while the getting is good; this means that more land gets converted to agricultural use, and valuable wetlands and grasslands are lost.
3. It is not fiscally responsible to use taxpayer dollars to decrease the risk of farming marginal land. Uncropped land has been left that way for a reason—it’s not worth the effort. Marginal lands produce low crop yields and they are often susceptible to floods and erosion. Subsidized crop insurance reduces the risk so that farming marginal lands is more attractive, but this comes at the expense of taxpayers. Since our nation does not have a food shortage, and costs of insuring such land are often high, this means we foot the bill but don’t get much of a return for our money.

All of these are common sense reasons to include Sodsaver and conservation compliance in the next Farm Bill.  Protecting wildlife habitat and saving taxpayer dollars makes sense for everyone.  Stay tuned to this blog for important updates on the farm bill and how your money is spent.  In the meantime, check out this article in NWF magazine on Farm Bill conservation.

The Farm Bill is one of the most important laws helping farmers protect and enhance wildlife habitat on private lands in America.  It’s a massive piece of legislation that has been around a long time in different forms and comes up for reauthorization in Congress about every 5 years.

The last Farm Bill passed in 2008 and expires in 2012 – so this year, Congress should reauthorize the Farm Bill in order to ensure stable funding and consistent delivery of the conservation programs it contains.

Most Farm Bill spending actually goes to nutrition. The little green slice of the pie that goes to conservation may not look like much, but that 9% can go a long way, and it provides considerable return to taxpayers, by ensuring that land and natural resources are preserved for the future. (The estimates in the pie chart are based on data from the Congressional Research Service.)

How Does 9% of the Farm Bill Work for Wildlife?

Most of the money from Farm Bill conservation programs like the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provide funds to protect valuable wildlife habitat from being converted to production, restore marginal farmlands to habitat, and share  the cost of Best Management Practices (BMPs) with landowners to help protect wildlife, water quality, and soil quality on working farm lands.

Many wildlife species depend on habitat on private lands to survive.  Farm Bill conservation land retirement programs combined provide about 33 million acres of wildlife habitat; that is more than National Wildlife Refuge lands, which total around 26 million acres (minus Alaska).

Greater Sage Grouse, credit USFWS/Stephen Ting

That is why it is important for wildlife enthusiasts, lawmakers, farmers, and all Americans to support continued and increased funding for conservation programs in the 2012 Farm Bill.  Learn more about how Farm Bill programs can help protect wildlife.

Families can mark their trees with a red ribbon and return later to cut them down.

We’d set aside last weekend to do our holiday decorating, so as the weekend approached and the weather forecast was good I suggested to my husband that we check for a local tree farm where we could select and chop down our own Christmas tree.

We’ve often bought cut trees from local vendors, but I can’t say for sure the trees themselves were local. I’m a big supporter of buying my food local, straight from the farmer so it only made sense that I should take that next step and buy my tree straight from a local farmer, too.

Although it was our first time cutting our own tree it won’t be our last. The kids had a ball wandering the land in search of the perfect tree for our family. Inevitably we’d find “the one” only to find that it was already claimed by another family, shown by a red ribbon tied on it.

"The one" at Blue Heron Tree Farm in Centreville, MD.

Beyond the fun we had, I feel good about our choice because during their growing cycle these trees provide oxygen, as well as habitat for many types of wildlife. Also the leftover tree can be recycled to mulch or left as a snag, a dead tree that provides habitat for wildlife.

We also supported local farmers Harriet and Ed Caporin, owners of Blue Heron Tree Farm. Buying local helps our economy and, in cases like this, it keeps the land as a productive farm versus over-developed.

Outdoor fun. Adventure. Shopping local. The smell of a fresh cut tree. If any or all of things lure you to buy a local Christmas tree, you can find a farmer near you by searching the National Christmas Tree Association directory.

‘Tis the Season from the National Wildlife Federation:

• 5 Gifts Birds Are “Tweeting” About This Holiday Season
• This Year, Shift Your Gift Into a Gift For Wildlife
• Reindeer: 12 Fascinating Facts About These Amazing Creatures
• Simple Holiday Crafts to Make With Your Kids
• Habitat Certification and Other Gifts for Gardeners
• The Northern Cardinal: Find Out About the Bird That Most Symbolizes the Season