As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation
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09/04/2008
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New York Times (New York)
As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation By DAVID STREITFELD Published: April 9, 2008 Paul Devlin works at a bakery in Tampa, Fla. The bakery's owner said the price he paid for flour had doubled since October. Thousands of farmers are taking their fields out of the government's biggest conservation program, which pays them not to cultivate. They are spurning guaranteed annual payments for a chance to cash in on the boom in wheat, soybeans, corn and other crops. Last fall, they took back as many acres as are in Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Environmental and hunting groups are warning that years of progress could soon be lost, particularly with the native prairie in the Upper Midwest. But a broad coalition of baking, poultry, snack food, ethanol and livestock groups say bigger harvests are a more important priority than habitats for waterfowl and other wildlife. They want the government to ease restrictions on the preserved land, which would encourage many more farmers to think beyond conservation. Kerry Dockter, a rancher in Denhoff, N.D., has about 450 acres of grassland in the program. "When this program first came about, it was a pretty good thing,' he said. "But times have definitely changed.' The government payments, Mr. Dockter said, "aren't even comparable anymore' to what he could make by working the land. He plans to devote some of his conservation acres to growing feed for his cows and some to grazing. He might also lease some land to neighbors. For years, the problem with cropland was that there was too much of it, which kept food prices low to the benefit of consumers and the detriment of farmers. Now, because of a growing global middle class as well as federal mandates to turn large amounts of corn into ethanol-based fuel, food prices are beginning to jump. Cropland is suddenly in heavy demand, a situation that is fraying old alliances, inspiring new ones and putting pressure on the Agriculture Department, which is being lobbied directly by all sides without managing to satisfy any of them. Born nearly 25 years ago in an era of abundance, the Conservation Reserve Program is having a rough transition to the age of scarcity. Its 35 million acres