[music]
Easterwood: Some of this land is just suitable
for pasture land, and when they first came
out here and settled, they broke everything out,
therefore we had the dustbowl.
>>In the 30's our dirt left here and ended up
in the east coast...
Castro: Once it's gone, your topsoil is gone.
O'Rourke: As farmers we started going fencerow
to fencerow and the habitat just went away,
and so did the pheasants. ...
Cawley: But farmers are, of course, good stewards of
the land, we care about it, we've owned it, we've lived here
for generations and we want to do our part.
[music]
Block: The Conservation Reserve Program is
a major point of pride for me...
Vilsack: It gives farmers options to take land that
is environmentally sensitive, and put it into
a program that protects the land,
that prevents soil erosion.
Wooden: And the wildlife nest and then we like to leave
stuff there for them to have cover for the winter.
Nomsen: Pheasant hunting is actually a billion dollar
industry out there, so it's a tremendous
economic boost to rural America.
Johnson: I think the CRP program is one of the best
government programs that is out there, period.
[music]
THE CLICHÉ IS THAT BEHIND EVERY CLOUD IS
A SILVER LINING. THE CLOUD IN THE 1930s WAS DUST
- FROM FARMS THAT WERE OVERWORKED AND
UNDER-WATERED AFTER YEARS OF DROUGHT.
IN THE SPRING OF 1935, ONE OF MANY BLACK CLOUDS
ROLLED OVER WASHINGTON, D.C., CARRYING TONS OF SOIL
ON WIND-GUSTS OF 60 MILES PER HOUR.
THIS EARTHEN TSUNAMI HAD STARTED IN THE NATION'S
BREADBASKET SOME FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES AWAY.
Bennett: These wind-eroded lands...
HUGH HAMMOND BENNETT, THE FATHER OF SOIL
CONSERVATION IN AMERICA, WAS TESTIFYING
AT THE MOMENT THE WINDOWS DARKENED.
HE SAID TO A CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE:
Douglas Helms: He said something like:
this is what I'm talking about.
There, gentlemen, goes a bit of Kansas.
And later on he would say that this had
"considerable educational effect."
And that would be the acceptance of the idea
that soil conservation was in the national interest,
and that the public, through the government,
could help pay for some of this.
[music]
REPAIR BEGAN WITH TECHNICAL HELP FROM
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
AND AS FARMING TECHNIQUES CHANGED AND RAINS
FELL AGAIN OVER THE STRAINED BREADBASKET,
PRODUCTION RETURNED. IN THE DECADES THAT FOLLOWED,
FARM OUTPUT IMPROVED.
MORE PRODUCTION CAME FROM THE SAME AMOUNT OF SOIL.
PRODUCTION, IN FACT, OUTPACED DEMAND,
AND SURPLUSES BECAME COMMONPLACE.
THE FIRST PROGRAM TO SLOW PRODUCTION TO IMPROVE PRICES
WAS THE SOIL BANK IN THE 1950'S AND 60'S.
FARMERS WERE PAID BY USDA TO IDLE THE LAND, TO REST THE SOIL.
BUT WITH TIME AND NEW TECHNOLOGY,
THE PACE PICKED UP AGAIN - AND CROP SURPLUSES RETURNED.
THEN CAME A WORLDWIDE SHORTAGE OF WHEAT,
WHEN SEVERE DROUGHT HIT CROP FIELDS IN THE SOVIET UNION.
Block: Well, this was in the 70's and the Soviet Union
needed grain and we wanted those exports.
At the same time they said, we've got to plant this thing
fencerow to fencerow to raise enough grain for them
and our own needs. But it was exposing more land
to erosion because we were planting more land.
[music]
AS THEY PLANTED MORE ACRES, PRODUCERS ALSO BENEFITED
FROM BETTER PESTICIDES, FERTILIZERS AND SEED VARIETIES.
YET, THERE WERE GROWING CONCERNS ABOUT THE IMPACT
OF INTENSIVE PRODUCTION ON NATURAL RESOURCES.
BY THE 1980s, LAWMAKERS WERE FACING
THE DUAL-PROBLEM OF LOW CROP PRICES CAUSED BY OVERSUPPLY
- AND PRESSURE FROM ENVIRONMENTALISTS.
THE 1985 FARM BILL INCLUDED A PROVISION FOR AN OLD THEME,
BUT A NEW SOLUTION:
THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM, CRP.
Glickman: While I was in Congress during the 80's
we were always looking for tools, quite frankly,
to increase supply management and even though
the CRP wasn't designed as a way to bring down
crop surpluses, it was certainly an additive
to the conservation reasons that were very
strong at that time.
Block: That's where I came up with the idea of
a conservation reserve that would take the fragile,
erosive land out of production and then
we can put the good land into production.
I believed in it from the beginning, and fought for it.
Reagan: It includes some very good conservation measures...
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN SIGNED THE FARM BILL
ON DECEMBER 23rd, 1985.
WITHIN MONTHS, THE FIRST ACRES WERE ENROLLED IN CRP.
Wooden: After the program CRP came out,
we found out that we could put it in there
and get a little money off it. And plus,
it's just a benefit, for the community.
And it's helped, kept the air clean,
and it kept dust and dirt from blowing.
FARMERS AND LANDOWNERS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
BEGAN TO EXAMINE THE NEW CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM.
USDA'S FARM SERVICE AGENCY OFFERED FAIR-MARKET
ANNUAL RENTAL PAYMENTS ON CONTRACTS OF 10-15 YEARS.
Easterwood: CRP is a very good program.
It's a stable economy for us as farmers.
If we have it in CRP we have something to
fall back on when we have crop failure.
And we do have crop failures because of drought in this area.
It's not something that's just given to us.
We actually rent our land to the government.
We work on a partnership basis.
[music]
IN SHORT, CRP WORKED. FARMERS AND LANDOWNERS
VOLUNTARILY ENROLLED SOME 32 MILLION ACRES BY 1990.
BUT SOME OF THOSE ENROLLMENTS DREW CRITICISMS.
Block: Well, we had critics from two or three directions.
One of them was that the farmers were being paid
this money and the farmers aren't producing
anything on it. But I reminded them that
with our farm program, it did the same thing.
So, I think the critics were pretty well subdued.
Glickman: And I continue to believe that one of
the great strengths of the program was the bond,
the alliance that it built between the commodity folks
and the environmental and conservation folks.
Through the Conservation Reserve Program,
the government puts its money where its mouth
is by helping farmers make their private lands
a public asset. And that bond has been important,
politically, during the next five or six farm bills.
IN SUBSEQUENT FARM BILLS, CONGRESS ADDRESSED CRITICISM
OF CRP BY REQUIRING THE USDA TO DEVELOP SPECIFIC
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. LAND OFFERED FOR CRP CONTRACTS
MUST PRESENT AN ENVIRONMENTAL RISK,
AND MUST HAVE BEEN RECENTLY FARMED OR GRAZED.
AND THE ENROLLMENT PROCESS MUST BE COMPETITIVE.
Miyoshi: We have some marginal ground,
so it was a good opportunity to take that land out of
production, put it under full conservation,
where there's no environmental problems,
in fact it's benefiting our environment.
TO MEASURE THE VALUE OF LAND FOR CONSERVATION GOALS,
USDA CREATED AN ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS INDEX.
THE EBI EVALUATES HOW ERODIBLE THE LAND MIGHT BE;
WHETHER IT WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVED WILDLIFE HABITAT;
AND HOW IT WOULD IMPROVE WATER AND AIR QUALITY.
ON LAND THAT QUALIFIES, LANDOWNERS GET HELP WITH
CONSERVATION PLANS FROM USDA'S NATURAL RESOURCES
CONSERVATION SERVICE:
Morris: NRCS's role with the CRP program
is to help producers with technical assistance
which means, basically conservation practices,
to install them and to make sure it's
a successful program.
Metcalf: Some areas are planted into trees,
you have some areas to warm season grasses.
Both of those are very deep-rooted,
you take a lot of nutrients up with that type of vegetation.
Johnson: This is a filter strip with orchard grass.
And of course in the background here you can see
the, you know, is our cropfields, soybeans this year.
TYLER JOHNSON FARMS NEAR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY IN MARYLAND.
MUCH OF HIS WATERFRONT CROPLAND IS ENROLLED IN
THE CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM,
OR CREP - A VARIATION ON CRP THAT ENCOURAGES BUFFER STRIPS.
Metcalf: Buffers are areas along-side sensitive areas,
wetlands and streams and ponds that buffer
the runoff and the activity on the adjacent land use.
A buffer is permanent vegetation and it filters
the runoff, and protects water quality.
Johnson: The filter strips were the most
economical for us. That's a CREP program now.
It has taken out all those wet areas, we're getting
the payment, we're getting all the conservation and
the ecological benefits from that and we're,
you know, now we've got more places for rabbits and deer
to live in. So, I mean, it's a win-win situation.
Cawley: The Chesapeake Bay has been declining
over the years. The CRP program is a cornerstone
to us here in Maryland, helping to save the bay.
PROTECTING IMPORTANT WATERWAYS SUCH AS CHESAPEAKE BAY AND
OTHERS IS AN IMPORTANT "SILVER LINING" OF CRP.
ANOTHER IS THE CREATION OF WILDLIFE HABITAT.
Castro: We have some quail, we have lots of rabbits.
I mean, we just see lots of wildlife all the time.
As long as I own the land I'm going to have grass on it,
because of the wildlife that's involved,
and I owe them a place to live and have some cover for them.
Wooden, Jr: And it's nothing to see deer or turkey,
and it's because of the place they have
to lay and nest and raise their young ones,
that's why they're here.
[turkey calls]
Kennamer: The wild turkey is, of course,
one of the conservation marvels in this country.
Around the turn of the century there was about
30,000 turkeys left. Now we've got turkeys
in 49 states, every state but Alaska.
And it's worth about two billion dollars to
the economy of this country every year in the spring,
just people going out turkey hunting,
either in their state or in multiple states.
[rifle shots]
Nomsen: It's as simple as:
if you add grass, you have pheasants.
And pheasants and other wildlife populations literally
exploded when CRP came on the landscape in 1985.
And in the fall, each year, you're going to see
rural communities where it's hard to find motel rooms,
the restaurants are full, the fields are full during the day,
and so it's a tremendous economic boost.
[music]
OVER TIME, CRP HAS BECOME A PROGAM OF MULTIPLE BENEFITS:
BY REDUCING SOIL EROSION IT KEEPS DUST
FROM POLLUTING THE AIR - AND SEDIMENTS
FROM RUNNING OFF INTO WATER SUPPLIES.
THE TREES AND GRASSES ON CRP LAND SEQUESTER CARBON,
THEREBY REDUCING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
THE RENTAL PAYMENTS HELP FARMERS SURVIVE IN TIMES
OF CROP FAILURE, AND THE WILDLIFE HABITAT ATTRACTS
POLLINATORS AND GENERATES TOURISM AND INCOME FOR
RURAL AMERICA. BUT IN AN ERA OF TIGHT FEDERAL BUDGETS,
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF CRP?
Block: I think it's going to be around a long time,
I would say, though, that as we try to meet
the demand for food around the world, I think it's
conceivable that we will see some of those acres,
the best ones, put back into production.
But we can farm with no-till so it won't expose it
as much to erosion as we used to.
Wooden: Right now, if this had to be put into cultivation,
it would do better than it was when we was cultivating it
because it had that long rest.
Vilsack: This is a commitment that you
have made to conservation...
CRP is an extraordinary investment to make it easier
for land owners to do what's right for their land
and right for the environment and for wildlife.
Building greater habitat and the economic
opportunities that outdoor recreation presents, it helps
to improve the local economy because these payments are,
obviously revolving around the local economy,
all of that is an investment in rural America,
creating jobs and helping folks stay on the farm.
Miyoshi: Ethically it's the right thing to do.
If you have some marginal ground or a corner or portion
of your farm that's more difficult to farm,
it's a very good marriage to put CRP in there.
You can receive at least some payment -
and these sanctuaries are always used by the wildlife.
Pierce: So I would suggest to anybody that's
interested in the program to come in and sit down
and talk with the Farm Service Agency
and find out how the program would fit
into their operation and certainly we are there
to help them any kind of way we can.
Easterwood: This is our duty, to be as owners
of the land, to be good stewards of the land,
to maintain it for us, for generations to come.
O'Rourke: If you've got something that's marginal
there's no sense just tearing it up every year -
give it back to the animals.
Put it in CRP and let it do some good.
[music]
[closing music]