Excerpt
THE Great Plains, a transition zone between continuous cropland to the east and extensive rangeland to the west, is a unique agricultural region. The area is characterized by unpredictable, highly variable, and limited precipitation and harsh climatic conditions. Agricultural production in the region is risky, and cropping systems vary significantly in response to changes in commodity prices, production costs, government programs, and problems of land and water use. Soil erosion is a major concern. Periods of drought bring on prolonged economic and natural resource disasters. Because the population density is low, relatively small changes in agricultural policy can have far-reaching economic and social impacts on the region.
The Conservation Title of the Food Security Act of 1985 seeks to protect the nation's natural resource base. Because of the extent of highly erodible land, the history of plow-up in the crop-range transition zone in response to prices, and such physiographic features as prairie potholes and playa lakes, the act's conservation provisions hold particular significance for Great Plains agriculture. A Food Security Act Task Force, sponsored by the Great Plains Agricultural Council (GPAC) recently studied Conservation …
Footnotes
B. L. Harris is a soils specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and chairman of the Great Plains Agricultural Council's Food Security Act Task Force, Texas A&M University, College Station, 77843-2474. J. N. Habiger is state conservationist for the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and an advisor to the GPAC task force, Salina, Kansas. Z. L. Carpenter is chairman of the GPAC executive committee and director of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, College Station.
- Copyright 1989 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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