Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Completed Competitive Grant

Fostering an effective green payment program

Project ID: P2003-21

Abstract

The creation of the Conservation Security Program (CSP) was greeted with enthusiasm by farmers. This project looked at how well CSP worked out in practice.

Key Question: What role can farmers plan in the policy arena?

Findings: There is no more effective spokesperson for sustainable agriculture than a sustainable farmer. The farmers also became better aware of the time-consuming and convoluted process of law- and rulemaking. They now better understand how policy change occurs and how powerful are the forces for the existing agricultural policy system.

Lead investigator: Teresa Opheim, Practical Farmers of Iowa

Year of grant completion: 2008

This competitive grant project was part of the Leopold Center's Policy Initiative.

Topics: Policy