My first trip to Yellowstone National Park (YNP) was in 1965. Since then, I have returned on numerous occasions, each time deliberately entering by a different route. Yellowstone has five entrances (the South, East, Northeast, North, and West). Each entrance provides me with a unique perspective of the park. It is not the entrance, itself, that is so unique. Instead, it is the route I travel to reach each entrance that provides me the altered perspective. Each time, I see new things. I feel like the same type of experience has happened …
What did you accomplish with all that taxpayer money?
It seems like “dollars spent” has become the new metric for reporting improvements in soil and water conservation. I totally agree, we should know how much money is being spent on protecting our natural resources, but I think “dollars spent” is a misleading way to report progress. Taxpayers are entitled to information that contains more specificity, such as tons of soil or pounds of nitrogen kept from entering water bodies. Better yet, progress reporting should include efficiency information such as the cost of saving a ton of soil (cost/ton …
Pay for Performance
Historically, cost-share has been awarded to farmers on a first come first serve basis, regardless of the environmental outcomes of the conservation practices. But what if the USDA didn’t base payments on the cost of the practice? What if the incentive payment was based on the performance of the practice instead? By paying for performance versus installation costs, farmers (as well as taxpayers) would have a more accurate way to measure their return on investment. Conservation program funds are in high demand in the United States, with the …
Relationships are a funny thing
In the spring semester of 1981, I was a junior majoring in agronomy, at Iowa State. As a student, I was looking for work experience; the kind that was supposed to determine my career choice. After hearing of a possible summer job in the corn breeding department, I met with Dr. Ted Crosbie. On the spot, Dr. Crosbie offered me a job on his crew. I had no idea what I would be doing, but I accepted - I needed a summer job. Looking back now, it all seems so strange. I was a young kid focused on soil science, but accepting a job in corn …
Considerations in Certifying Sustainable Food
Guest post by Linda Prokopy and Belyna Bentlage Linda Prokopy is a Professor of Natural Resources Social Science and Belyna Bentlage is a Research Associate in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. They conduct research on how to motivate farmers to adopt sustainable practices. There is an urgent and recognized need to address sustainability issues in agriculture, including but not limited to, soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, animal welfare, and water quality. The current trajectory of U.S. policy …
Trial and Error Conservation is Expensive
A F150 4-wheel-drive truck... It was the first truck I owned. It ran like a top until the convulsions started; driving down the road it would shake violently. After that happened a few times, I knew I needed to seek professional help. When I told my mechanic about the convulsions he immediately concluded, “it’s your spark plugs”. Later that day when I picked up my truck he said, “I changed the spark plugs and that should take care of it”. I paid the bill. For the next week my truck drove great. He had fixed it, or did he? About a week …