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June 21, 2013
A weekly look at sustainable bioenergy, farm, and forest policy issues
House Rejects Farm Bill
Partisans on both sides of the aisle found plenty to object to as the House debated the Farm Bill this week. But few expected the bill to be defeated, let alone by such a wide margin.
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Dead Zone in Gulf May Reach Record Size; A Stronger Commitment to Conservation Is Needed
Rains have returned to the Midwest and much of the central plains. Thank goodness. But the wet spring, expanded corn planting, and heavy fertilizer use are threatening to increase the size of the hypoxic dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. A stronger commitment to conservation in the pending Farm Bill and 2014 agriculture appropriations bill would help. Encouraging the widespread establishment of perennial and short rotation biomass energy crops as watershed buffers, on marginal lands, and in flood plains through Farm Bill programs such as the Biomass Crop Assistance Program would help, too.
Writer: Ned Stowe
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