Voluntary Conservation Works

Voluntary Conservation is having a positive impact on discharges from agriculture land in the Chesapeake Bay Area.  This Article in No-till Farmer quantifies the results.  I suppose some would argue that regulation is also involved in the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, but the fact remains that USDA's conservation programs can play a vital role in helping producers implement practices that improve water quality for everyone.  I am not sure that the targeted fund made it into the new farm bill, but funding was preserved for conservation programs in the farm bill.  While Chesapeake may be a model for larger scale work, funding to address bigger project will also need to be greater in order to have an impact.