07/14/05 C.R.P.`s future shape?

Comments from a recent U.S.D.A public hearing pertaining to how the Conservation Reserve Program will be shaped as part of the 2007 Farm Bill should be made available this week through U.S.D.A.'s website. U.S.D.A. was using the hearing as a final gathering of testimony on a variety of issues surrounding C.R.P., from what to do about a significant number of expiring contracts starting in 2007 to reenrollment guidelines. One of those testifying was Gretchen Borck of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. BORCK: And there were various people there from Ducks Unlimited, E.P.A. Farm Bureau, Wheat Growers, Conservation District, Beef Association, just to name a few. And they were all submitting their comment on how C.R.P. should address the large number of expiring contracts and there association of acres in a manner that achieves the most effective use of that program, and what method should be pursued. And also on re-enrollment, how should that be handled? With competition? Without competition? The environmental benefit index has changed. Should they go back and reestablish the contracts under the new environmental index. But the meeting was not just about what various ag, conservation, and property groups thought about the logistics of C.R.P. in the next Farm Bill. Borck cautioned that U.S.D.A. and others were bandying about a variety of buzzwords. And in Borck's point of view, here a buzz word once, keep it the back of the mind, hear it twice  raise a red flag, hear it more than twice  in government circles, it's a done deal. BORCK: One of the new terms that I heard is co-equal treatment of the lifetime contracts in regards to environmental benefits and that would be for soil, water, air, plants, and humans. We're looking at improvement. We're looking at upgrading C.R.P. We're looking at mid-contract management, going in checking to see how that's being handled and if they are in compliance still. What length of contracts should there be? Ten to fifteen years for C.R.P. Or extend what we already have and stagger them more? U.S.D.A. is scheduled to publish final comment on a draft rule on C.R.P. for the 2007 Farm Bill period by the end of October.