US still paying farmers to NOT PLANT CROPS!

[DrLeftover]

But that trend may be dying off.



And, contrary to the story, the basic idea was not to protect wildlife but to keep supply down and prices up. The wildlife was secondary.

(Reuters) - North Dakota farmer Justin Zahradka will plant wheat this spring on 40 acres that has been off-limits for two decades, protected by a government conservation program that is shrinking as high crop prices make farmland more valuable.

The 18-year-old high school senior leased the land a year ago from a neighbor who opted not to re-enroll it in the federal Conservation Reserve Program, a scheme that pays farmers and landowners nearly $2 billion annually to leave land idle in order to protect wildlife and the environment.

After loosening up the soil with vegetables last year, he has high hopes for a good harvest. His acres are part of a total 1.7 percent rise in the number of acres of U.S. field crops that farmers are projected to plant this spring, according to Friday's annual U.S. Agriculture Department plantings survey.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/02/us-crops-conservation-idUSBRE83102V20120402

 

[Evil Eye]

...That seems like a stupid idea.

Is imported food really that cheap?

 

[Flurry]

I get that you want to preserve the wild life and the like. But do you also really want to deny a potential food source as well? Which after reading that again. I see why they wanted it that way. Morons.