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  LWV Upper Mississippi River Region

UMRR blog

Does it take an act of Congress to protect the Mississippi?

3/23/2022

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The answer is that Congress is one piece – an important one – of the solution to the Mississippi’s woes.  In the UMRR Annual Meeting, we will have an exciting panel of speakers to talk about bills currently in the US Congress that have the potential to greatly affect our river.  We will also explore the idea of a “compact” between river states to protect the river from water diversions.  This session will set the stage for the work that LWV UMRR will tackle in the years to come.  

Join LWV UMRR for this session on May 21 at 10:30.  This meeting will be held in Webinar format on Zoom - pre-registration is required.  
Click this link to pre-register!  You will receive the link to the meeting by return email; we will send reminders in May, including on the 21st.   Registration is open until the meeting starts on May 21 at 10:30.  

​We have a great slate of panelists for this session - representatives from other organizations working for the river and leading work on federal bills and big ideas.    We will cover the Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience initiative (MRRRI), the Safeguarding the Mississippi River Together initiative (SMRT), the Farm Bill reauthorization and a big idea - the notion of an Upper Midwest Compact to protect the waters of the Mississippi from diversion.  Our speakers represent organizations that are working to protect the Mississippi.  ​
MRRRI Update
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Alicia Vasto, Water Program Associate Director,  Iowa Environmental Council

​Alicia joined the Council in 2019. She grew up in Adel, Iowa. She previously worked as the director of the Iowa
Conservation Education Coalition, where she supported environmental educators and advanced environmental literacy. Alicia holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University with a focus on land conservation and management, and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from the University of Notre Dame. In her free time, she enjoys cycling, travel, and yoga.

SMRT Update
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Brandt Thorington,
Policy Director,  Mississippi River Cities and Town Initiative

Brandt serves as the Policy Director for the MRCTI, specializing  in analyzing legislation affects, building coalitions and advancing legislation. His primary areas of expertise are  appropriations,
tax policy, budget, energy, health care, immigration reform, homeland security, public safety, transportation, water infrastructure, and community development. Brandt has extensive experience working with various levels of government including Congress, federal officials, state legislators, mayors, and other local officials.
Farm Bill Update
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Lara Bryant, Deputy Director, Water and Agriculture, Natural Resources Defence Council

Lara Bryant promotes soil health practices and policies that protect water quality, use water more efficiently, and help farms to be more resilient to climate change. Prior to joining NRDC, she worked on sustainable agricultural policy at the National Wildlife Federation and World Resources Institute and was a chemist at a private environmental laboratory. Bryant holds a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil science from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in public administration in environmental science and policy from Columbia University. She works out of NRDC’s Washington, D.C., office.
Upper Midwest Charter
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 Kirsten Wallace, Executive Director, Upper Mississippi River Basin Association

Kirsten Wallace was appointed executive director of UMRBA in 2017, following over 10 years focusing on the Association's ecosystem, navigation, and flood initiatives.  Kirsten works with UMRBA's member states to develop  regional positions, advocate the states' collective interests before Congress and the federal agencies, and facilitate and foster interagency coordination, cooperation, and communication.
Kirsten serves on the Board of the Interstate Council on Water Policy, America's Watershed Initiative, and the National Waterways Foundation.
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Environmental outcomes of the US Renewable Fuel Standard - the impacts of corn ethanol on carbon levels

3/2/2022

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PictureEthanol plant - photo from DTN
On Feb 14, 2022, a group of researchers from the Universities of Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky and California published a paper that examines the overall impact of the US Renewable Fuel Standard on carbon in our atmosphere.  Here's a link to that article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Based on  their analysis, the researchers showed that ethanol from corn and other biofuels actually add to green house gases.  

The researchers conclude that when considerations such as land use changes, increased fertilizer use, impacts of ethanol production and more, corn ethanol can actually be increasing green house gases.  Corn ethanol is the current cornerstone of renewable fuels. 

Corn ethanol was found to be worse for the environment than gasoline in this paper.  Researchers from other institutions will add their analyses as they test the hypotheses of this paper.  That is how science works, through testing and data, and rigorous discussion based on facts. 

Science has become politicized, and it is likely that there will be much bluster and ballyhoo about this research, too.  Depending on where you get your news, the interpretation will change.  It's good to look at the data that the conclusions are based on and keep an open mind when the research is discussed.   


This article, on the Civil Eats website, provides a good summary of the paper for non-scientific audiences from an environmental perspective.  Limited reading of the article is allowed before the paywall closes.   This article is from one of the authors of the paper, is a statement of findings in his own words on the UC Davis website.  It is also a good summary of the findings.
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How Did We Get Here?   Fifty Years of Federal Farm Policies

11/3/2021

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Monday, December 6th 1:00 pm - Discussion with columnist Alan Guebert.   The video of this Zoom meeting is available on the LWV UMRR YouTube channel at this link.   Due to inexperience of the Zoom operator, the recording was done in "gallery" mode until the discussion period, but the audio is good and there were no slides.  

Guebert shared his perspectives on the impacts that federal farm policies have had on our economy, our communities and our environment.  
Watch this blog for information on our February meeting, on the simulation "En-Roads Climate Change Workshop".  Jackie Armstrong giving us a live demo on how that software program works.  This will be an evening presentation - 6:30 pm on February 7.  
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Extract from Guebert column, Hey Genius, Mind your Own Business:   "... our pedal-to-the-metal food system rarely pays farmers and ranchers to do the cheaper-in-the-long-run right thing and often pays them to do the more-profitable-in-the-short-run wrong thing.

Even our federal farm programs focus on fixing problems after they occur, not before; programs like federal crop insurance, the Conservation Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, the Market Facilitation Program, and soon, on-farm carbon sequestration.  ...


Alan Guebert bio:  Alan Guebert was raised on a 720-acre, 100-cow dairy farm in southern Illinois. After graduating the University of Illinois in 1980, he served as an associate editor at Professional Farmers of America in Cedar Falls, Iowa and Successful Farming magazine in Des Moines. Later he spent eight years as a contributing editor for Farm Journal magazine of Philadelphia.
 
In 1993, Guebert began the Farm and Food File, a weekly newspaper column on farm and food policy and politics. Twenty-eight years and 1 million words later, the Farm and Food File continues to be published weekly in 26 states and two Canadian provinces.
 
Guebert currently lives in Madison, WI, with his spouse, the lovely Catherine. They have two children and three grandchildren.
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Fishers & Farmers Website - a great resource!

4/25/2021

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Fishers and Farmers' outreach work is helping people connect in their local watersheds around the water they share.  F&F programs Online and On-Air are must-see's - click the picture below and take a look at their resources.
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You can learn about upcoming radio programs (like the May 15 broadcast of Neighbor to Neighbor with Pam Jahnke, which will focus on the Cedar River and Black Hawk Creek watersheds) and live conversations (like Boots on the Ground, an upcoming interactive conversation on May 20  focused on the Polk County, Iowa, Soil and Water Conservation District), as well as find recordings of past sessions that take you all around the Upper Mississippi.  
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Fishers and Farmers has been funding stream and farm projects for 10 years.  The Project Funding page on their website provides information on the types of projects that have been funded and the partners involved in the work.  

LWV UMRR has featured the work of Fishers and Farmers in blog posts and educational programs several times in our five-year history.  Most recently, we had a talk by Heidi Kueler and Black Hawk Creek watershed partners on Feb 1, 2021.  You can watch the video of this presentation on the LWV UMRR Blog at "Watershed-scale work to improve soil and water quality".  
Fishers & Farmers' website also features an interactive map you can use to explore the rivers and streams in your area.  Click the link above or the map to the right to go to the map and then scroll and expand to find your home.  You can then zoom in and find the watershed boundaries for the rivers and streams in your area.

The map below shows the watershed of Black Hawk Creek as it flows into Waterloo, Iowa, and the Cedar River.  This tool can help you to understand the area you live in and identify the water resources around you.  Is your watershed urban or agricultural?  What highways run through?  What are the threats to the water?  
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Fishers and Farmers' website has many excellent resources - take a look today!  Thanks to F&F for their work to bring people together and improve soil health and water quality in the Upper Mississippi Basin!  
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LWV UMRR Advocacy Update - and how you can get involved in comments to the proposed Clean Water Rule

12/11/2018

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The dual mission of League of Women Voters - to educate voters and advocate on issues - is exemplified in the work of the LWV Upper Mississippi River Region.  We provide information on a variety of topics in this blog, through our newsletter, and in the educational meetings we co-sponsor with local Leagues.  And we advocate,  through taking and advocating for positions on key issues.  This post provides an update on work we are doing in three areas; the Farm Bill, the Clean Water Rule and  Foxconn.   

Farm Bill:
  The conference committee report, which reconciles the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, was released early today.  The Senate has already approved it, and a vote is expected in the House tomorrow.  Here's a link to a summary of the bill, from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.  LWV UMRR has been participating in conference calls with this coalition, and on Dec 11 signed on to a letter to Congressional leadership urging final passage of the bill .  The bill has many positive components, including continued support for income-based food support, strong and expanded conservation program funding, additional supports for dairy farmers and even a provision to ease restrictions on the growing of hemp.  We will include more information on this bill in blog posts to come, so stay tuned.  The full text of the bill can be read here. 
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Clean Water Act preservation and support:  LWV US was very involved supporting the initial passage of the Clean Water Act in 1970.   (Read the history of LWV Clean Water Act advocacy here.) We are continuing this work through advocacy in two areas where our current federal administration is seeking to roll back Clean Water Act protections.   One rollback is the rewrite of the Clean Water Rule.  This multi-part rulemaking revolves around the definition of "Waters of the US".  Here is the US, EPA rulemaking page, proposed changes were just announced on December 11, and a 60-day comment period will soon begin.  LWV UMRR will work with LWV US to participate in this rule making.   If you are interested in learning more about this proposed rule, and helping LWV UMRR prepare comments, please email us at lwvumrr@lwvmn.org.  We will send you materials and set up a conference call to discuss possible comment areas.    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  The Environmental Integrity Project has issued a report on the impact of this potential rule change on Chesapeake Bay - Read more about it here.  

LWV UMRR and LWV US have also signed on to a letter to EPA, urging them to maintain the existing Clean Water Act 404(c) rules.  These rules have been used by environmental groups to counter environmentally damaging projects.   The sign-on letter was started by the National Wildlife Federation.
Click here to read  the letter.  Click here to see the list of organizations that have signed on to the letter.  

Foxconn​:  LWV Wisconsin has lead LWV efforts to oppose the withdrawal of more than 7 million gallons per day of Lake Michigan water for this new industrial development near Racine.  LWV Lake Michigan is party to the Petition seeking reconsideration by WI DNR.  LWV Upper Mississippi has made a resolution in opposition, and will continue to find ways to work against this transfer.  You can read the resolution here. 

LWV UMRR will be traveling to southeastern Wisconsin for our February Board meeting.  We will seek to meet with Leagues in the area to talk about the project, get an update and see how the recent change of administration in Wisconsin may affect things.  Once the plans for this meeting are set, we will share them here on our 'Upcoming Events" page.   There are three previous blog posts on Foxconn:  
  • Foxconn Update - the scale of the plant is shrinking...
  • Foxconn takes Wisconsin by storm
  • Update on the Racine diversion
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Impact of the Midterm Elections on the Farm Bill

11/8/2018

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The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has an excellent blog post on this subject - check it out here:  http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/2018-midterm-election/.   The change in leadership in the House will definitely affect the Farm Bill, both in content and timing.  

LWV UMRR thanks NSAC for their excellent reporting on this issue, and for their leadership in working for a strong conservation focus in the Farm Bill! 
 
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Here is some added speculation on how things may turn out, from Reuters news agency:

​Stalled farm bill could move fast after House win: senior Democratic lawmaker: “Congress may swiftly resolve a drawn-out impasse on the U.S. Farm Bill now that Democrats are poised to retake control of the legislative body, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee said on Wednesday. Collin Peterson, ranking member and presumptive new chair of committee, said passing the crucial agricultural legislation was going to be his top priority, with a deal possible as soon as next week during the lame-duck session. “That’s going to be the number one goal,” he told reporters on a conference call. “My sense is this is going to get worked out (in the lame-duck session).” The Farm Bill provides funding for an array of programs important to farmers - a crucial constituency for Republican President Donald Trump - including crop subsidies and rural development. But the latest bill, passed in 2014, expired on Sept.30 after talks over its replacement broke down. At issue has been a provision in the new draft of the bill that would impose stricter work requirements for recipients of food stamps. The Republican-led House of Representatives passed the $867 billion bill in June with the tougher requirements, over the objections of Democrats. The Senate, meanwhile, passed its own bipartisan version that excluded the requirements. Now that the Democrats have gained control of the House in Tuesday’s elections, the deadlock could be resolved, Peterson said. “Most of the ideas are out there and drafted. It is a matter of putting them together. If that could get resolved this week, then we’d have a bill ready by next week,” he said. He added that he has held talks about the issue with other Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, seen as a front runner to become House Speaker. “There’s no indication or idea on the Democrat side in the House that we would like to delay this thing,” he said. Food stamps are used by more than 40 million Americans, or about 12 percent of the total U.S. population, and the program’s inclusion in the Farm Bill has long been used as a way to get support from Democrats who represent urban districts.”
[Reuters, 11/8/18] https://goo.gl/wnBYRs

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FARM BILL MYTH-BUSTING: THE CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM

10/11/2018

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Farm Bill Update from National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Blog​

With the 2014 Farm Bill now expired without an extension in place, all eyes are now on the congressional leaders heading up the Farm Bill Conference Committee. The Committee leaders, which include Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee Pat Roberts (R-KS), Ranking Member Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Mike Conaway (R-TX), Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN), are currently working behind the scenes in an attempt to negotiate a new bill by the end of the year.

Negotiations have proven difficult because of the substantive differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The Senate bill, for example, was approved with broad bipartisan support, while the House only narrowly passed along partisan lines after initially failing on the House floor. The differences between the two draft bills can be found across nearly all twelve of the farm bill’s titles, including the conservation title.
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Rye cover crops in Harford County Maryland. Cover crops are among the conservation practices supported by CSP. Photo credit: Edwin Remsberg, USDA.
Within the conservation title, the biggest split is on the future of the farm bill’s working lands conservation programs: the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program(EQIP). In the Senate bill, both major working lands programs are kept whole, and important policy improvements are made to each that increase access and environmental benefits. The bill also cuts funding for each program by equal amounts to help pay for a needed funding increase of agricultural conservation easements.

The House bill took a much different approach. The House proposes to eliminate our nation’s only comprehensive working lands conservation program, CSP, entirely. This elimination is justified by the claim that the House bill would transfer the key components of CSP to EQIP, along with a portion of CSP funding – a myth we refute in more detail below. While the House bill does transfer some CSP funding, it still cuts $5 billion in total conservation funding. The proposed elimination of CSP would also reduce agricultural sustainability and cut working lands funding from a large number of key agricultural states, denying farmers and ranchers access to comprehensive conservation support.

Please visit the NSAC blog to read more on the CSP and what's at stake in these negotiations!
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Down to the Wire on the Farm Bill

7/24/2018

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September 28 update - it looks like the 2014 farm bill expire - read more about it here on the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's very excellent blog update.  We will have more on this site as events transpire... 
September 23 update - The 2014 farm bill's package of programs and funding expires in one week, on September 30.   The 2018 farm bill moved ahead, with bills passing both houses of Congress this summer.  Conference committee met in early September,  you can watch the video here.  But then, Hurricane Florence caused Congress to evacuate and delayed further work, so now things are really down to the wire.  The bill on the Senate side does a good job of maintaining a strong conservation focus, but the House bill is not so good in this regard.  This makes the work of the conference committee crucial.   Now is a good time to contact your Representative in Congress and tell them that our country needs a farm bill that is strong on conservation and protects our water resources!  
THE FARM BILL IS A major legislative package that deals with U.S. Department of Agriculture programs ranging from food safety, trade, nutrition support and subsidies for farmers. Similar bills have been passed approximately every five years since 1933. The active version of the law, passed in 2014, expires on Sept. 30.   (For more information on the content of the Farm Bill, read our blog post here.)
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(Photo from Minneapolis Star Tribune Dec 17, 2017.  

The 2018 Farm Bill is in the works.  LWV UMRR is following this progress, and has signed on to letters urging Congress to improve the conservation titles in the Bill.  This bill is at a pivotal stage now - read about it here on the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's blog.   It's a good read, detailed and with clear explanations.    

Timing is critical - conference committee members have been assigned and it is expected that they will meet before the August recess, with a goal of getting a bill to the President for signature before the end of the Federal fiscal year on September 30.  ​
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Improving the Farm Bill's Conservation Programs

1/3/2018

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Choices journal focuses on water quality and ecosystem health in the Mississippi River Basin, with a keen eye on agricultural policy.  Their December issue includes four papers presented at a recent conference that examine the political and institutional factors that have governed the design of conservation programs in the US, the design flaws that limit the effectiveness of these programs and the role that emerging technologies can play in leading to science-based conservation policy design.
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In his paper, Nexus between Food, Energy and Ecosystem Services in the Mississippi River Basin: Policy Implications and Challenges Madhu Khanna says, “One of the great challenges for the US Corn Belt is increasing the productivity of food and fuel production while reducing nutrient runoff, which is a key contributor to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi–Atchafalya River Basin (MARB) drains about 41% of the conterminous United States and includes the Corn Belt, which is one of the most productive farming regions in the world. The hypoxic zone (Dead Zone) in the Gulf is the second largest in the world; in the summer of 2017 it was equal in size to the state of New Jersey, the largest extent ever recorded. Excess nutrient run-off generated by tillage and fertilizer-intensive agricultural and livestock production in the MARB is estimated to contribute about 80% of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (N) and more than 60% of delivered phosphorus (P) in the Gulf of Mexico (White et al., 2014). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2007) estimates that a 45% reduction in both N and P loadings from the MARB relative to the 1980–1996 average annual level is needed to achieve desired reductions in the size of the hypoxic zone.
 
Citing various sources, this paper makes the point that expanded agricultural use of the land not only impacts water quality but increases greenhouse gas emissions (due to loss of carbon storage) and reduces habitat needed for wildlife and pollinators, many of which are natural enemies of agricultural pests.  Studies found that the expansion of corn production for ethanol has contributed to worsening the dead zone in the Gulf.  Changing farming practices will be expensive, both in the cost of implementing new practices and in the loss of revenue to farmers. This paper cites analysis by  Rabotyagov (2014), stating that the “lowest-cost strategy for achieving the hypoxia goal [reducing the dead zone in the Gulf] is estimated to cost approximately $2.7 billion per year in terms of lost profitability”.  The upfront costs include obtaining equipment, machinery and establishing alternative perennial crops are considerable.  
PictureClick this graphic for detailed information on the 2014 Farm Bill, not part of Choices' articles.
​In CBO Baseline and the Potential for Conflicts by Expanding CRP, Jonathan Coppess looks at funding constraints in the coming Farm Bill.  The Agriculture Act of 2014 (Federal Farm Bill) is the most important piece of legislation that affects farm and food policy in the US.  Title 2 of this act includes eleven different programs aimed at conservation and water quality improvement, the largest of which are the Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Regional Conservation Partners Program (RCPP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Conservation Technology Assistance (CTA).  Each program has a specific focus and target, and their coordination is not ideal.

Expanding these programs, or adding new programs, will take funds from other programs under current budget disciplines being followed by the US Congress, so the stakes are high.  South Dakota Senator John Thune, has proposed an alternative to traditional CRP enrollment. 
“Called the Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP), his proposal would provide for short-term (3–5 years) reserved acres with a maximum of 15% of the cropland on a farm (Thune, 2017; S.499, 2017). The shorter contract period would make the program more responsive to market conditions. In addition, it permits some harvesting activities on the acres while under contract. From a baseline perspective, the proposal is designed to reduce the costs of enrolling acres. For one, it would limit rental payments to 50% of the average rental rate for the county. Senator Thune’s proposal has some historical precedent as well. Early farm bills used conservation rental payments to rent land out of production for a single crop year, but this policy was part of controversial efforts to control production through limiting acres.” 
 
In his article “Policy Reforms Needed for Better Water Quality and Lower Pollution Control Costs”, James Shortle points out inefficiencies in our current conservation programs.  He “found that prioritizing practices based on their cost-effectiveness along with crude spatial targeting could reduce annualized costs of achieving required agricultural N, P load allocations across the [Chesapeake Bay] watershed state by 27% to 80%... “  He also advocates a fuller blending of approaches for managing point and nonpoint source pollution, specifically through a more robust trading program.  Trading pollution credits allows for spending on practices that result in greater pollution reduction for less cost. 
 
The final article in this series is “Conservation Programs Can Accomplish More with Less by Improving Cost-Effectiveness” by Marc O. Ribaudo.  One way that more can be accomplished with less is through performance-based payments, where actual reductions, rather than theoretical reductions based on changes in practices, are rewarded with payments.  Ribaudo also encourages the use of community conservation principles.  “Community conservation” engages all farmers in an impaired watershed to work on solutions in a group setting. Community recognition of environmental performance and the demonstration of innovativeness and entrepreneurship in managing a farm could increase conservation-oriented thinking on the part of those who were traditionally motivated primarily by profit.  LWV UMRR and other groups providing outreach could have a role in this. 
 
Choices, the magazine of food, farms and resource use, is the principal outreach vehicle of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association.
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