One of the nation’s oldest conservation organizations—the Izaak Walton League—wants crop insurance to be subject to Conservation Compliance rules in the next farm bill.
Brad Redlin is the agricultural program director of the Izaak Walton League.
“The insurance program right now is not subject to compliance. It’s essentially the single form of payment from USDA that isn’t subject to compliance,” Redlin says. “We think that if it’s becoming the dominant way producers are supported as a safety net, that it should be made compliant with other conservation requirements that all other programs are subject to.”
Redlin says tying crop insurance to Conservation Compliance becomes even more important if direct payments are eliminated.
“Those direct payments are one of the primary compliance mechanisms available to producers—or at least to the policy that can withhold payments upon compliance violations,” he says.
Redlin says making Conservation Compliance part of crop insurance would increase conservation and save federal tax dollars. That decision, in Redlin’s words, “is an easy one to make.”
The Izaak Walton League’s series of 2012 Farm Bill Forums continues on June 22nd with a session in Des Moines. It’s scheduled from 9 to 3 at the League’s office at 4343 George Flagg Parkway in Des Moines.
AUDIO: Brad Redlin (9 min MP3)
Latest: 
