Bruce I. Knight, Principal,
Strategic Conservation Solutions
As we look ahead to a new year, a new Administration and a new farm
bill, it’s important to recognize what works and what doesn’t. Top of my list of
approaches that really work? Voluntary conservation—no surprise there.
I’m really tired of hearing that - because every environmental issue
has not yet been resolved - voluntary conservation is insufficient and more
regulation is needed. Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and algae in Lake Erie are
long-term problems that will take continued, concerted effort—and not just from
the agricultural community. Those who know that voluntary conservation works,
but continually repeat the tired refrain about the need for regulation are
spreading falsehoods to the detriment of those who actually implement and
maintain conservation practices. It’s time to stop. Unfortunately, we still
have hunger in this country, but we don’t say food stamps have failed. We still
have traffic accidents, but we don’t abandon traffic laws as useless.
Most of our nation’s landowners care about the future, not only for
those who will inherit their land, but for all who depend on our nation’s
natural resources. I was recently reminded of the deep value farmers and
ranchers place on preserving and enhancing their land at a South Dakota
Cattlemen’s Convention, where I met the 2016 winners of the Sand County
Foundation’s South Dakota Leopold Conservation Award: The Cronin Family from my
home state of South Dakota. As a board member of the Sand County Foundation, I enjoy
meeting award winners like the Cronin Family from all across the country who
epitomize private lands stewardship.
Mike and Monty Cronin and their farm manager Dan Forgey have
demonstrated their commitment to the land and the value of implementing no till,
planned grazing and wintering cows on cover crops and crop aftermath. I love
what Mike had to say in the video referenced at the hotlink above about how
their family’s land use philosophy has changed over time. “Monty’s and my
grandfather broke the land, and my Dad took everything out of the land. And
it’s Monty’s and my job to put it back.”
That’s what the stewardship ethic is all about—putting it back. Keeping
the soil on the land, building it up through manure and cover crops and
restoring and retaining productivity. Not because someone in Washington, D.C.,
or Pierre, South Dakota, threatens to fine you if you don’t. But because you
know it will reduce erosion, increase soil health, boost productivity and benefit
the bottom line both today and tomorrow.
The best stewards of the land are not governments or NGOs but private
landowners who have a vested interest in preserving the resources entrusted to
them by previous generations to pass on to their own children and
grandchildren. It is a great encouragement to me that Aldo Leopold’s
stewardship ethic is still alive and well among private landowners like the
Cronins.
We face many complex environmental problems as a nation—from climate
change to dwindling pollinators to dead zones in the Gulf. But those best
equipped to address these problems are the landowners who want to leave their
land in better shape than when they took it over because of their commitment to
stewardship. Let’s maintain and strengthen voluntary conservation programs to encourage
them.
About the author: Bruce I. Knight, Principal, Strategic Conservation
Solutions, was the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 2006 to 2009. From 2002 to 2006,
Knight served as Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service. The South
Dakota native worked on Capitol Hill for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Rep.
Fred Grandy, Iowa, and Sen. James Abdnor, South Dakota. In addition, Knight
served as vice president for public policy for the National Corn Growers
Association and also worked for the National Association of Wheat Growers. A
third-generation rancher and farmer and lifelong conservationist, Knight
operates a diversified grain and cattle operation using no-till and rest
rotation grazing systems
#30
For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com