Here it is, folks! My previous blogs have touched a bit on
my summer research but without much detail. In part, this is because my
research project took time to develop and really take shape. Now that the
summer is over, I will do my best to summarize my research and findings.
This summer, I studied the farmer-led councils that exist in
Dunn, Peirce, Polk, and St. Croix counties. These councils are part of a recent
initiative that aims to give farmers a voice in deciding what incentive
programs would be most effective for improving soil health and water quality.
Throughout my summer of research, I noticed a few topics that kept popping up.
These are my findings:
Enforcement
When talking with county workers, I discovered the county
has difficulty enforcing environmental regulations. The regulations currently
in existence are difficult and time consuming to enforce, and many of the
farming practices encouraged by the county are not legally required at all. In
the past, counties have attempted to incentivize farmers to switch to
environmentally friendly practices by offering cost-share money, but that has
its limitations. The farmer-led councils were developed in response to this
problem to provide more flexible funding for incentivizing environmentally friendly
practices. The councils allow farmers to decide which practices they think are
worth incentivizing.
Distrust of Government
Previous experiences with government regulation have caused
some tension among the farming community. Often, this discourages farmers from
voluntarily working with government officials unless necessary. Interestingly,
the farmer-led councils have broken this trend by attracting farmers who hope
that by taking a proactive approach, they can potentially stave off more
regulation.
Even within the farmer-led councils, some farmers are
hesitant to trust government studies on the connection between farming
practices and water quality. For those who desire to see proof for themselves,
the farmer-led councils present a unique solution. Voluntary farmers can
install a water-monitoring device on any field of their choice, which measures
the amount of runoff coming off that field. The data from all the
water-monitoring devices can give farmers a good idea of which crops and planting methods contribute the most or least amount of runoff.
Barriers
Many people are
excited by the potential of the farmer-led initiative, yet a few barriers exist
that could slow progress. The availability of funding is one concern. While the
farmer-led incentive money currently comes from a private source (the McKnight
Foundation) the long-term sustainability of this funding is uncertain. One of
the largest challenges to finding incentive money is the need for funding that
is free from “strings attached.” The farmer-led councils must have flexible
funding available for them to use as they see fit.
On the staffing side of things, the county departments
involved in creating the farmer-led councils are also short of money. Time is money, and it takes a lot of
time to build relationships between the farmers within each council and between
the council and the county. Currently, each county has dedicated one employee
to work with the councils part-time on the farmer-led initiative. In order for
the farmer-led initiative to expand, however, more paid staff time may be
necessary in the future.
Conclusion
In closing, I think it is important to note that the
farmer-led initiative is a long-term project that has only just begun. It will
take time to see results. I hope that the future LAKES REU students can
continue to study the initiative as it progresses over the next two years
because although my time here is over, and I’m back in Iowa…
…this research is just beginning.
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