Minnesota Senator Tina Smith wants more incentive funding for producers participating in the Conservation Reserve Program. State Soybean Grower’s Association Executive Director Joe Smentek isn’t against that idea but says the main thing that needs to be done is to increase the amount of acres eligible to be in CRP.
He says CRP is one of many farm programs that are critical for producers but every time there’s a farm bill put together, there’s less money available and each program is forced to fight each other for what’s left.
Smentek says farmers work hard to do the right thing in protecting the land and water but are constantly attacked by extreme environmentalists saying they are not doing enough, even when their funding is cut.
Smentek says there isn’t a farmer who wants their nutrients down in the Mississippi Gulf or their farm field in a lake. He says they want those nutrients where they put them, and that message needs to get out to the environmental groups.
