Long-term Land Use and Land Cover Changes Affected by the Conservation Reserve Program in the Minnesota River Valley

F Yuan,B Bohks,K Mullen,M Mitchell,C Smith

doi:10.5539/jgg.v7n2p105

Abstract

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a cost-share and rental payment program signed into law byPresident Reagan in 1985 and administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) under the United StateDepartment of Agriculture (USDA). CRP aims to counteract erosion and protect the environment by encouragingagricultural landowners to convert highly erodible cropland and other environmentally sensitive lands to nativeor alternative permanent vegetative cover through the implementation of 10-year contracts paying annual rents.CRP has been actively implemented since the enactment of the Food Security Act of 1985. Re-authorized byCongress in 1996 with major modifications, the CRP has been renewed with minor alterations several times. In1998, the joint state/federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) targeted the long-termretirement of an additional 40,469 ha (100,000 acres) of agricultural land in the Minnesota River basin toenhance water quality and wildlife habitat through permanent conservation easements.This research examines land use change from 1985 to 2013 in the Minnesota River Valley beginning with an eraof no long-term set-asides to the current era with two active long-term set-aside conservation reserve programs.Multi-temporal remote sensing images from 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2013 were analyzed to map the land usechanges in response to the CRP policy alterations. The results revealed more than 36,000 ha (89,000 acres)cropland have been converted to grassland or forest during this 28-year span. A persistent drop in croplandoccurred in spite of rising corn and soybean prices since 2002 associated with Minnesota’s biofuel industry andincreased foreign demand for these commodities, which indicates that the long-term nature of the CRP andCREP contracts are critical for maintaining the conversions of cropland to grassland or forest cover whileproviding stable farm income.

Highlights

1.1 History of Agricultural Set-Aside ProgramsAgricultural set-aside programs originated with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, which intended to reduce agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies and taking land out of production to decrease supply and increase commodity prices
A persistent drop in cropland occurred in spite of rising corn and soybean prices since 2002 associated with Minnesota’s biofuel industry and increased foreign demand for these commodities, which indicates that the long-term nature of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) contracts are critical for maintaining the conversions of cropland to grassland or forest cover while providing stable farm income
The discrepancy between cropland reduced and increased natural cover can be attributed to a stipulation in the CRP that allows for occasional cutting for hay

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural set-aside programs originated with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, which intended to reduce agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies and taking land out of production to decrease supply and increase commodity prices. United States (297 U.S 1 1936) because the regulation of agriculture was deemed a state power pursuant to the Tenth Amendment of the U.S Constitution, subsequent federal agricultural bills sustained the constitutional test by: (1) reinforcing the national need of conserving soil, and (2) funding the programs through means other than taxing agricultural processors. President Roosevelt threatened to pack the Court with enough new justices to insure the New Deal programs received favorable judicial review. The implementation of farming techniques common to areas with persistent water balance surpluses exposed the region's soil to blowing wind, resulting in intense and frequent dust storms (Worster 2004). In the context of the Dust Bowl, this environmental mitigation was deemed constitutional and set the legislative www.ccsenet.org/jgg

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