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Where will American corn acres come from?
The battle is on between farming and conservation interests in the United States as ethanol production pushes demand for corn. At issue is the future of land now put into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which, in effect, pays farmers not to farm.There are 8.4 million acres of land enrolled in the program in the cornbelt states of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri. A further 11.9 million CRP acres are in the fringe states of Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Colorado.
Conservationists worry in particular that farmers in the “fringe” states will convert acres to corn production that should stay in grass and trees.
A database compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, obtained and published on the Internet by the Environmental Working Group, says that Washington has paid farmers $18.439 billion not to grow crops since the 1995 Farm Bill was initiated.
Total U.S. farm spending over 11 years was just short of $130 billion. BF
(subscribers please see chart on page 12 of the March 2007 Issue)
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