U.S. may allow corn farming on conservation land
U.S. may allow corn farming on conservation land
mongabay.com
June 23, 2008
The U.S. Department of Agriculture may allow farmers to plant corn on million of acres of conservation land to bolster the food supply in response to flooding in the Midwest and record high prices spurred by demand for domestic ethanol production, according to a report in the New York Times.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and one of Capitol Hill’s main voices on farm policy, on Friday urged the Agriculture Department to release tens of thousands of farmers from contracts under which they had promised to set aside huge tracts as natural habitat,” wrote David Streitfeld. “An Agriculture Department spokesman said Friday that the Grassley proposal would be considered.”
One quarter of the U.S. corn crop is used for ethanol production. Critics say the use of corn as an energy feedstock is distorting the global food market, driving up prices for a range of commodities, including soybeans and livestock. Some have blamed corn ethanol production for indirectly fueling pollution in the Gulf of Mexico as well as deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
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