Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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The U.S. government has paid farmers billions of dollars to adopt conservation practices such as reduced tillage or planting cover crops.

 
But according to the Environmental Working Group, which this week released a 

 of the spending, the federal programs have yielded little long-term environmental protection.

 
"That's the biggest challenge, or the biggest hole in our efforts to date," said Craig Cox, senior vice president for the Environmental Working Group. "Despite spending billions of dollars, there's no assurance that we are achieving lasting change."

Water quality depends on farmers' willingness, not regulation

 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not respond to an interview request.
 

It took the Environmental Working Group 28 Freedom of Information Act requests and seven years to get the data and create the public database. While the USDA had made some of the data accessible in the past, Cox said his group's effort targeted data that had previously been difficult to access and analyze.
 

The programs included in EWG's database are the Conservation Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentive Program, Conservation Stewardship Program and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. Nationally, the USDA spent nearly $30 billion on the four programs, according to the database.

Water in Minnesota

In Minnesota, USDA has spent some $2.8 billion on conservation programs since 1995, the database shows. Yet water quality problems persist — ranging from 

 to nitrates in drinking water to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

 
Cox said the data should spark a public discussion of how to make farm conservation programs more effective.

Farmers, scientists seek common ground on going green

"There is a lot of opportunity for the public, advocacy groups, interest groups to engage at the county and state level in helping shape how these programs are implemented," he said. "That's one of the main reasons we built this database."

Environmental News

Water

Dan Gunderson

Author

The Environmental Working Group says it took seven years and 28 Freedom of Information requests to get the data.

New database targets federal farm conservation spending

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