Wasting Time at the Farm Bill Hearing

Two hours and 12 minutes of subsidy-sucking. Those people wanted money for everything. Old programs and new programs and more money for all of them, and full federal funding for every possible “conservation” program.

The worst was Pheasants Forever, which is supposedly a “private” conservation group. They are supposed to be doing this stuff privately. That’s their mission. Now, they act like they’re just another arm of the Federal government.

The guy from the OK Conservation Districts was the best. His line, essentially, was “We got lots of programs and lots of
money in 2002 Farm Bill; let’s make those work first We don’t need a whole flood of new stuff. There’s such a plethora of confusing and possibly conflicting programs out there that lots of folks don’t even know what’s there.”

Most interesting theme was that ring-necked Pheasants ran through the whole program. The importance of pheasants to farmers and economy and states. Came from the Congressmen and at least two, perhaps three, of the witnesses. They fell all over themselves talking about how great CRP is for pheasants. SD went from harvest of 2 million a year to 15 million. They debate on what cover crops are best for pheasants, and whether subsidizing switch grass for ethanol will harm pheasants.

Hello people. Ring-necked Pheasants are non-native invasive species. What are the agricultural conservation programs doing supporting and promoting this invasive species?