CRP

In 1929, the United States stock market crashed, kickstarting a decade long period known as the Great Depression. The exact causes for this crash are heavily debated to this day, though common factors typically include overproduction of crop and industrial materials, overpricing of stock values, and easy credit/loan practices.   Farmers were already in a tough spot leading […]

This past month, we’ve been examining the effects that agriculture and the environment can have on each other. While farming does immeasurable good for people around the world, certain modern practices can take a toll on soil, water supplies, animal habitat, carbon emissions, and more.   Meanwhile, changes in the earth’s climate have caused disruption to the seasons and cycles that

Natural wildlands are good at caring for themselves (as long as they’re protected from outside dangers such as pollution, human-caused wildfires, etc). Wind, rain, animal grazing, and other events help maintain a balance. In grasslands, for example, these natural disturbances remove excess woody vegetation and allow flowering plants to reseed and thrive.  While CRP aims to recreate natural habitat by establishing native CRP seed, it requires a more hands-on approach to stay on

Have you ever wished you could enjoy the environment-enriching benefits of CRP without taking entire fields out of active production? Then you might be interested in the new CP-43 – Prairie Strip practice.  CP-43 falls under CRP’s CLEAR initiative, which we talked about last week. Like all CLEAR practices, CP-43 places a special emphasis on reducing runoff and

There are three primary goals of the Conservation Reserve Program: improve soil health, protect water supplies, and restore wildlife habitat. While all practices under CRP work together to achieve these goals, many of them place a specific emphasis on a particular goal.  Last month, we discussed CRP SAFE, which focuses on establishing and restoring wildlife habitat.  Today, we’d like

At this very moment, the Mississippi River is pouring excess nitrogen and phosphorus into the Gulf of Mexico, feeding the 8th largest hypoxic zone in the world. Hypoxia is when a body of water lacks the oxygen necessary to sustain life. Any marine life in this dead area is forced to either flee or die.  Considering the prominent role the Gulf of Mexico plays for 5 US