Farmer Input Meeting Results

This is the information gathered from the "Farmer Input" meetings and provided to David Minge for possible inclusion in the Conservation Security Act 2000. CURE would like to see the Minnesota River designated as a National Priority Pilot Project.

Provisions CURE would like included: To counteract public backlash against farm subsidies, agriculture community must increase and improve environmental resource protection; program simplicity and implementation flexibility are key. Minimize red tape; Conservations practices must be profitable for the farmer and reduce sediment, nutrient and bacteria loading into water systems; The incentive payment structure must address existing perceived problems in county-to-county variation of USDA cash rent equivalent rates; Implement the incentivized conservation program, to the extent feasible, within existing federal rules, regulations and agency structures, but be sure to include any necessary implementation funding for payment structure must be made for the inevitability of multiple conservation practices being implemented on the same acres; No minimum or maximum acreage limitations; Acres not presently under cultivation should be excluded from eligibility; and farmers already implementing approved conservation practices would be equally eligible for incentive payments as those newly implementing them.

Voluntary Conservation Practices and Incentives

Annual Tillage Practices*	Description	Rate/Acre**
Conversion to pasture	Convert row-crop acres to pasture. Create permanent vegetative cover.	CRP - 25%
Perennial crop in rotation	Employ alfalfa, sweet clover or other grass/legume forage as component of regular, continuous crop rotation system	CRP - 30%
Conservation tillage # 1	Implement no till, ridge till or strip till systems	CRP - 35%
Conservation tillage # 2	Use chisel plowing or mulch tilling that leaves: 50% residue cover after planting 40% residue cover after planting 30% residue cover after planting	$ 20 $ 10 $ 5
Contour strip cropping	Any tillage system that incorporates farming on contour strips	$ 20
No till	No fall tillage (not to preclude spring tillage)	$ 10
Fall cover crop	Plant crop for over winter vegetative cover	$ 10

Permanent Practices	Description	One-Time Payment
Blind tile inlets	Replace existing surface tile inlets with blind inlets	100% of FSA rate
Sediment blocks	Permanent structures that retard flow of water from ag land	90% of FSA rate
Sediment retention ponds	Structures to retain water that otherwise would flow immediately downstream of off land	90% of FSA rate
Fertilizer/chemical management	Integrated planning & management techniques to minimize impact of chemical and animal waste runoff	90% of FSA rate
Others	Terraces, shelterbelts, buffer strips and other soil/water conserving and erosion reducing measures	90% of FSA rate

* Annual tillage practices are listed in rank order reflecting highest to lowest benefit (perceived) in achieving runoff reduction goals.
** For clarity and simplicity in this presentation, given dollar values represent a composite average of data collected at farmer input meetings held throughout the Minnesota River Basin. More complex incentive structures may be necessary to account for disparate local variations.
("CRP-X%" represents the USDA cash rent equivalent for a given soil type in a given county, offset by a weighted percentage to reduce competition with CRP.)

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CURE - Clean Up the River Environment
www.curemnriver.org
114 South 1st Street West
Montevideo, MN 56265
Phone: 320-269-2984 Fax: 320-269-5624
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