More conservation benefits if land-idling formula is revised
The government could idle more environmentally fragile cropland if it alters its management of the Conservation Reserve to maximize the benefit achieved per dollar instead of aiming for the greatest benefit per acre, says a study by the think tank Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. Created in 1985, the Conservation Reserve, which pays landowners to idle fragile cropland for 10 years or longer, is the largest U.S. land set-aside program ever with an annual cost of $2 billion.
Biofuels are smaller factor than thought in land conversion
For the most part, farmers put their cropland to more intense use rather than convert forests and grasslands because of demand for biofuels in recent years, says a study by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.
Veterinarians prefer town to rural practice
Increasingly, veterinarians prefer to practice in cities rather than rural areas, says a paper at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.
“Rationality of choices in subsidized crop insurance”
The Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State Univ releases a report on crop insurance selection by growers.