Conservation Threats

CWA May Thwart Farmer Interest in Conservation Practices

Todd Neeley
By  Todd Neeley , DTN Staff Reporter
Connect with Todd:
Workers demonstrate tiling a field in this file photo. There are concerns that the waters of the U.S. rule will discourage farmers from certain conservation practices. (DTN file photo by Chris Clayton)

OMAHA (DTN) -- Farmers are being called on to play an expanded role in improving water quality after an algae bloom affected Toledo, Ohio, drinking water last summer. However, there is concern that putting more U.S. waters under federal control via the Clean Water Act could weaken farmer interest in conservation programs.

While rural America waits for EPA to finalize the controversial waters of the U.S. rule that drew more than one million public comments prior to the Nov. 15 deadline, members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Wednesday pressed the head of the Natural Resources Conservation Service to stand up for farmers' interests when it comes to the rule -- in particular the interpretive rule.

At this intersection is where the proposed rule and the growing national call to reduce phosphorus and other nutrient runoff that contribute to algae blooms come into conflict. Farmers may be less inclined to undertake conservation measures for fear they may violate the Clean Water Act rule if they fail to meet NRCS specifications.

NRCS Chief Jason Weller said the original intent of the interpretive rule that exempts 56 NRCS conservation practices from the CWA was to identify specific practices for producers in order to provide certainty. However, Weller told the committee federal officials still are leaving open the possibility of pulling the interpretive rule because of the outcry and confusion it has caused.

"Farmers say all we hear is more government regulation. Those actors have lost the confidence of the ag community. Many Hoosier farmers have said they are unaware whether NRCS practices can trigger the Clean Water Act," said Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.

Weller said his agency is concerned about the potential negative effects the CWA rule could have on NRCS conservation efforts. "The intent was a good one," he said. "The intent was to streamline activities in waters of the U.S. ... We are concerned about potential dis-incentives ... We view ourselves as a shield for producers to protect themselves from regulatory pressure."

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said he believes the waters of the U.S. rule will be detrimental to NRCS programs. "My concern is that when you do something like waters of the U.S., what is that going to do to voluntary programs?" he said.

P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

CONSERVATION EFFORTS

In the past six years, Weller said, NRCS has helped implement about 727,000 cost-share conservation practices at a cost of about $3.4 billion to the federal government and matched by the private sector. Many of those projects focus on irrigation management, brush management and cover crops, he said.

"NRCS is only successful if the farmer is successful," Weller said. "The conservation services we offer them have to work economically."

During the hearing a number of agriculture industry representatives indicated that while farmers are making progress in implementing conservation methods at the local level, in states like Iowa it will take years to turn the corner on many decades of soil loss.

TOLEDO MAYOR

Toledo, Ohio, Mayor D. Michael Collins, called on the federal government to take more drastic measures to find ways to reduce runoff and other pollutants that lead to algae blooms. His city suffered an estimated $2.5 million economic loss, he said, and some 500,000 residents went without drinking water as a result of an algae bloom in Lake Erie last August.

"I'm hearing we need more time," he said, "when half a million people were subjected to no test protocols and I got no support from Homeland Security. Fortunately I had a resilient team. I'm asking for an executive order. It will take the full force of our government and Canada to evaluate this circumstance. I'm not suggesting that this is an ag issue singularly. I really think this needs the full force of our government. Don't give this lip service."

Collins said the federal EPA should work to set water quality standards that address the toxins that cause algae blooms. Currently no standards exist and the needed science has yet to be fully developed.

Kristin Weeks-Duncanson, owner and partner of Duncanson Growers, a fifth generation family farm in southern Minnesota that grows corn, soybeans, vegetables and raises hogs, said her farm has developed a ditch system that allows the farm to slowly move water away from the land in order to control erosion and nutrients runoff.

Though many environmental and other groups have called on EPA to set more strict nutrient runoff standards across the country, Duncanson said water quality improvements and soil conservation have to be managed on a watershed basis.

"Farmers and landowners working together to manage water resources goes back many generations," she said. "We and many of our neighbors are using cover crops. We are learning more and more that we need to do conservation differently. We need to focus on watershed outcomes and not just individually."

Marty D. Matlock, executive director of the office for sustainability and a professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department at the University of Arkansas, said while many conservation practices often are called voluntary, farmers implement the practices most often because they have economic incentives.

"The incentivized adoption strategy employed by USDA NRCS has resulted in dramatic improvements across the U.S. agricultural landscape," he said in his written testimony. "In the nearly 80 years since the formation of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service the U.S. landscape has been transformed from an ecological wasteland to the most efficient, effective, and productive agricultural landscapes on earth ... The U.S. agricultural community recognizes this is not enough to ensure sustained prosperity across the heartland."

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow Todd on Twitter @toddneeleyDTN

(CZ/BAS)

P[] D[728x170] M[320x75] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[L2] D[728x90] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[R1] D[300x250] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[R2] D[300x250] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
DIM[1x3] LBL[article-box] SEL[] IDX[] TMPL[standalone] T[]
P[R3] D[300x250] M[0x0] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Todd Neeley

Todd Neeley
Connect with Todd: