Land targeting and agricultural policy

Agricultural competltlveness and environmental quality are increasingly consensus objectives in American agriculture. Yet the institutional interests undergirding agricultural policy are often at odds with those promoting improved environmental quality. This chapter examines ways in which institutional reforms in land targeting can improve both agricultural competitiveness and the environment. Before focusing on the Conservation Reserve Program in particular, some general remarks are in order. Because of the overriding importance of maintaining commodity specific base acres as an entitlement to federal subsidies, farmers are encouraged to grow the above crops on a continuous basis even if other cropping alternatives, or rotations, would make more sense economically or agronomically. At the same time, farmers participating in the programs have been compelled to set aside to conserving crops a percentage of base under the Acreage Reduction Programs and some 36.5 million acres have been enrolled in 10-yr land retirement under the Conservation Reserve Program.