One of my friends who studies greater prairie chickens in Wisconsin and Minnesota tells me that Minnesota prairie chickens have flourished in habitats where CRP crops are utilized for wildlife habitat. He tells me that government programs funding CRP are likely to give way to large-scale plantings of corn for ethanol, which will likely have a negative impact on prairie chickens, and no doubt for other wildlife as well. (Once when I was visiting him up there I saw a moose cow hiding in a windrow bordering CRP, which was a pretty funny sight to behold).
While I am sure other crops will be rotated out of planting schedules to be replaced by corn, I have to wonder how much marginal land or wild land will be planted to corn to take advantage of high prices. In one article in the BBC news a Midwestern farmer (perhaps jokingly, but who knows) stated that the word in the coffee shops around town these days is that doctors are giving up their practices to get into farming now that prices have soared. We already and have long had major environmental and ecological problems associated with agriculture in this country. High prices for agricultural commodities will not translate into farming practices that reduce impacts or mitigate damages in my view, if history is any guide. In fact, I fear that the boom in grain will set back efforts by Wes Jackson at the Land Institute in Kansas to develop grains for commercial use that require little or no tilling or other practices designed to make farming more sustainable in terms of soil depletion, usage of less chemicals, etc. I guess no one can blame farmers for wanting to ride this boom. And politicians are eager to please their constituents. But the long-term cost of this boom, and even the short-term international costs may make the boom turn out to be a boondoggle. Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ Live Search Maps find all the local information you need, right when you need it. http://maps.live.com/?icid=hmtag2&FORM=MGAC01
