Mike Bryan, CEO of BBI Biofuels, criticizes a recent study by researchers at South Dakota State University, which found that more than 1.3 million acres of grassland were converted to corn and soybean fields between 2006 and 2011, the highest rate of grassland conversion in the U.S. Corn Belt since the 1930s. In their study, Christopher Wright and Michael Wimberly used a geographic information system to analyze USDA data based on satellite imagery, and found that many types of grasslands are being plowed up and converted to cropland — mostly to plant more corn.

Bryan writes about the loss of grasslands as if they are no more important than the grass on his lawn. But grassland loss is no joke for grassland wildlife. In addition to reducing habitat, converting grasslands to cropland increases soil erosion and surface runoff. Once prairie is plowed, restoration efforts can only regain a fraction of the land’s original ecological function. Restoring native prairie is difficult and expensive, and research shows that the habitat quality can never be fully restored.

“Grasslands to cashlands?” Tell that to this black-footed ferret. Corn fields don’t make good wildlife habitat. Photo: J. Michael Lockhart, US Fish & Wildlife Service, via flickr

What’s behind this plow-up? High corn prices, driven in part because about 40% of the country’s corn crop is being used to produce about 13-14 billion gallons of ethanol every year. Experts estimate that 20-30% of the high price of corn is due to the ethanol market.

The plowup and increased corn plantings also crowd out a future with better biofuels. As Wright and Wimberly put it, “the window of opportunity for realizing the benefits of a biofuel industry based on perennial bioenergy crops, rather than corn ethanol and soy biodiesel, may be closing in the Western Corn Belt.” The study suggests we need to be moving to greater production of cellulosic ethanol that utilizes native mixed-grass species as a feedstock, and wouldn’t require converting grasslands to plowed rows of corn or soy.

NWF supports biomass sources that minimize impacts to habitats and biodiversity. Corn ethanol, especially when its cultivation crowds out wildlife and leads to the plowing up of remaining prairies, has increasingly serious impacts that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

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.  

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.

For now, I’d like to accentuate the positive. NWF has been working hard to make sure wildlife is represented  - read our 2012 Farm Bill priorities to learn more. We were pleased that one of our priorities – protection for native grasslands through a Sodsaver provision – was included in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s bill. I have written before about Sodsaver, a provision that will limit federal subsidies on native grassland converted into cropland.

Native grassland is an extremely valuable and under-appreciated biome in the US. I grew up a stone’s throw away from the Appalachians, and I remember clearly the first time I drove across the plains states. I had never seen the horizon so far away before, and the land stretching out flat, or slightly rolling until it met the sky. I have only recently started to learn how many amazing plants and animals live in the grasslands – like prairie chickens and Sandhill cranes.

5 Grassland Species

Here are 5 species that can thank the Senate Agriculture Committee for protecting their homes by including a Sodsaver provision – how many of these species did you already know? How many more can you name?

Black-footed ferret. Photo by Ryan Hagerty for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Prairie kingsnake. Photo: Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Snakes are key predators and an important part of prairie ecosystems. Prairie kingsnakes are common grassland snakes that come in a variety of shades of grey to brown. They are non-venomous and they don’t usually bite, but they shake their tales if they feel threatened.

Pronghorn antelopes. Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service

Regal fritillary butterfly. Photo: flickr, Bill Bouton

Butterflies that depend on prairie habitat are in decline, in Europe as well as the US. Many insects, including important pollinators, depend on grasslands to survive.

Burrowing owl family. Photo: flickr, Annette’s photography

 Burrowing owls, like prairie dogs and ferrets, live in underground burrows (hence the name). Burrowing owls are also unique because they are often active during the day.

Did you already know these animals?  Can you think of any more?  If so, send us a comment through the feature below!

The flute-like melody of the Western Meadowlark is a familiar and iconic sound across the grasslands of the American West and Midwest. These vibrantly-colored songbirds build their nests and forage for food in native grasslands, meadows, and farm fields during the winter, and in the spring males can often be spotted perched on fence posts, singing out across the grasslands.

Unfortunately, as large-scale agricultural land development destroys and degrades native grasslands, Western Meadowlark populations continue to decline. Right now, crucial conservation programs — including those that protect native grasslands on which Western Meadowlarks depend — are at risk of being cut in the re-authorization of the Federal Farm Bill.

Even worse, federal farm subsidies that lead to the destruction of native grasslands are continuing to expand. Special interests are fighting efforts to conserve and recover some of America’s most crucial wildlife habitat, and that’s why our decision-makers need to hear from you! 

Help Protect the Western Meadowlark

Tweet like a meadowlark. Congress can’t hear the song of the meadowlarks in DC, so we have to tweet for them! Listed below are Senators on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. Simply find your Senator(s), and click “Tweet” to speak up for the Western Meadowlark.

Arkansas

Tweet Senator John Boozman: @JohnBoozman Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Colorado

Tweet Senator Michael Bennet: @SenBennetCO Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Georgia

Tweet Senator Saxby Chambliss: @SaxbyChambliss Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Indiana

Tweet Senator Richard Lugar @dicklugar Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Iowa

Tweet Senator Charles Grassley @ChuckGrassley Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Tweet Senator Tom Harkin @SenatorHarkin Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Kansas

Tweet Senator Pat Roberts: @SenPatRoberts Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Kentucky

Tweet Senator Mitch McConnell: @McConnellPress Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Michigan

Tweet Senator Debbie Stabenow: @stabenow Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Minnesota

Tweet Senator Amy Klobuchar: @amyklobuchar Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Nebraska

Tweet Senator E. Benjamin Nelson: @SenBenNelson Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Tweet Senator Mike Johanns: @Mike_Johanns Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

New York

Tweet Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: @SenGillibrand Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

North Dakota

Tweet Senator John Hoeven @SenJohnHoeven Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Ohio

Tweet Senator Sherrod Brown @SenSherrodBrown Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Pennsylvania

Tweet Senator Robert Casey, Jr. @SenBobCasey Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

South Dakota

Tweet Senator John Thune: @SenJohnThune Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Vermont

Tweet Senator Patrick Leahy: @SenatorLeahy Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Not on Twitter? Click here to send a message urging your Senator to support crucial conservation programs in the re-authorization of the 2012 Farm Bill.

Don’t have a Senator on the committee? You can still help the Western Meadowlark by sharing this post with friends in states that do.

Protecting Wildlife and a Way of Life: America’s Grasslands Conference [w/video]

September 30 – America’s prairies, iconic grasslands that conjure up images of cowboys, Native Americans, wild horses and bison, are some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. As they disappear, so does an American way of life, a western spirit of freedom, wilderness and connecting with nature.

The National Wildlife Federation and South Dakota State University hosted a landmark event, America’s Grasslands: Status, Threats and Opportunities, in South Dakota to raise the national profile of  our declining prairies. Participants came from all over the country, even representatives from South Africa, Mexico and  Canada, to discuss the challenges for grasslands in North America.

Implementing a Vision: Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Restoration in South Carolina

September 30 – The South Carolina Wildlife Federation recently partnered with the National Wildlife Federation and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to assist in implementing the vision of the Range-wide Conservation Plan for Longleaf Pine ecosystems with the full spectrum of ecological, economic and social values. SCWF and NWF will work with land trusts in the areas surrounding the Francis Marion National Forest (FMNF) and will reach out to African American Leaders and landowners in the low country area to accelerate progress in longleaf pine conservation. SCWF and NWF project will utilize a mix of technical workshops, field days, public agency personnel including NRCS and consulting foresters.

Alarming New Study Documents BP Oil’s Impact on Gulf Ecosystem

September 26 – A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documents the effect of BP oil on the Gulf killifish. The minnow-like wetlands resident is a critical part of the Gulf’s food chain and was chosen for study by a team of researchers because of its abundance and sensitivity to any effects of toxic pollution. The study finds that oil exposure has altered the killifish’s cellular function in ways that are known to be predictive of developmental abnormalities, decreased hatching success, and decreased embryo and larval survival.

“This study is alarming because similar health effects seen in fish, sea otters, and harlequin ducks following the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska were predictive of population impacts, from decline to outright collapse,” said Doug Inkley, senior scientist with the National Wildlife Federation.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

• Examiner: National Wildlife Federation hike and seek a success in Chicago
• CNN Money: U.S. to decide the Keystone XL pipeline’s fate
• The Herald-Palladium: How safe are our pipelines?
• Bloomberg BusinessWeek: FEMA policies in Puget Sound harm salmon

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News

Click here to view the embedded video.

America’s prairies, iconic grasslands that conjure up images of cowboys, Native Americans, wild horses and bison, are some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. As they disappear, so does an American way of life, a western spirit of freedom, wilderness and connecting with nature.

The National Wildlife Federation and South Dakota State University hosted a landmark event, America’s Grasslands: Status, Threats and Opportunities, in South Dakota to raise the national profile of  our declining prairies. Participants came from all over the country, even representatives from South Africa, Mexico and  Canada, to discuss the challenges for grasslands in North America.

As  prairies vanish, often sacrificed to expand agricultural development, especially corn ethanol production, wildlife habitat also disappears across the Great Plains and other regions.  “Plowing up our nation’s last remnants of native grasslands to grow more corn for ethanol is like burning the Mona Lisa for firewood,” said Julie Sibbing, director of agriculture programs for the National Wildlife Federation. Western Meadowlarks, black-tailed prairie dogs, tall grasses and wild prairie flowers are just some the important species that are trying to survive in this shrinking ecosystem.

Protecting America’s prairies also protects an essential part of America’s western outdoor and ranching heritage. The National Wildlife Federation is working on policies for the upcoming Farm Bill to make sure grasslands are protected.