Protect Tomorrow's Food Supply, Soil Conservation Needs Priority Attention

There are three major Department of Agriculture programs to assist farmers in establishing enduring soil conservation practices to control erosion and preserve the topsoil necessary for crop production. The Conservation Operations Program provides technical assistance to help farmers develop conservation plans and apply conservation measures. The Agricultural Conservation Program channels Federal money to farmers and ranchers to share the costs of carrying out conservation practices on their land. The Great Plains program is a special Federal effort to help combat the unique climatic hazards in the Great Plains by technically and financially helping farmers and ranchers to change crop systems and land uses to conserve soil and water.

Much of the money is not being spent on critically needed soil conservation practices having the best payoffs for reducing erosion. In addition, the programs tend to be oriented to individual farmers who seek advice or volunteer to participate in programs.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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