Will agricultural program consistency save more soil?

Excerpt

AS a part of its Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act (RCA) program implementation plan and in anticipation of the 1985 Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year initiated a study of the consistency between its commodity and related farm programs and soil conservation goals. The recently completed first phase of this study attempted to answer two questions: Is there an inconsistency between commodity and conservation programs? If so, would reducing or eliminating that inconsistency significantly reduce soil erosion?

Is there a consistency problem?

It is national policy to stabilize commodity prices and to assure adequate farm income. These objectives are implemented through commodity, loan, crop insurance, and other agricultural programs. It also is national policy to reduce excessive erosion on agricultural land to levels that maintain the long-term productivity of soil resources and improve water quality. A variety of federal conservation programs are aimed at achieving this policy goal. While these two sets of objectives are not necessarily in conflict, the programs designed to achieve them can work at cross-purposes.

The availability of commodity, loan, and crop insurance program benefits makes the production activities to which they apply more attractive to farmers. Farmers …