VOA标准英语2008年-High Crop Prices Squeezing US Farmland Conserva

By Brian Wagner
Miami
14 May 2008

As crop prices remain high, farmers and other landowners are working to expand their output and take advantage of big profits for wheat, corn and soybeans. The boom is creating pressure to begin farming on lands enrolled¹ in U.S. environmental programs intended to rebuild native prairie and wildlife habitats. VOA's Brian Wagner has this report.

Rising crop prices are creating concern about the price of food at markets around the world. But for farmers of wheat, corn and other crops, the potential for reaping new profits is hard to overlook.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates farmers around the globe are seeking to take advantage, with output of wheat, rice and other grains expected to rise this year. Officials say global wheat production will reach a record level over the next year, up seven percent from last year, thanks to favorable weather conditions and record market prices for wheat.

The United States is the world's top wheat exporter, and much of it grows in a region known as the grain belt where farmers are looking at ways to grow more.

Erica Peterson, marketing² specialist with the North Dakota Wheat Commission, says some landowners in the state are now farming lands that had been left idle or enrolled in conservation programs.

"Whereas a few years ago it was probably more profitable to leave that land idle, when wheat prices were $3 or $4 [per bushel]," she noted³.  "Now if they can get $8, $9, $10 for their wheat, it is obviously more economical to use that land to grow a crop."

In North Dakota and other states, the challenge is finding good farmland that is not already being used for agriculture or for other ends.

Bruce Babcock, director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University, says the push to expand U.S. farmland began last year and is picking up steam.

"We've seen [crop] prices increase in the last year 20-30 percent and we only got a one percent increase in land," he noted.  "This year we're seeing a price increase of another 40 or 50 percent and I would be surprised if total land planted in the United States is up more than two or three percent this year."

One of the biggest possible sources of new farmland is the 14 million hectares held in a environmental program known as the Conservation Reserve Program. The federal program is to pay out nearly $2 billion this year to landowners in exchange for planting grass, shrub⁴ or trees to benefit the local environment. Advocates say the effort combats soil erosion, improves air and water quality, and provides habitats for native birds and other wildlife.

Last year, the 10-year contracts of some program members came up for renewal⁵, and scores of farmers in grain-producing states decided⁶ to leave the program and begin farming wheat, corn or other crops. North Dakota lost more than 165,000 hectares in conservation, more than any other state in the country.

Jim Jost is a conservation program specialist in North Dakota for the Farm Service Agency, which administers the program.

"You can see our highest losses in North Dakota are in the south-central part of the state and that seems to be influenced more by increased corn and soybean production in that area," he said.

Jost says the decision to leave the program is difficult for landowners committed to environmental concerns, but he says there is a strong economic incentive⁷ as long as crop prices are high.

Part of the blame for high food prices is the development of alternative energy supplies, such as ethanol from corn in the United States. Nature groups say the development of biofuels threatens to reverse some of the environmental benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program, which was launched in 1985.

Scott Stephens is director of conservation planning for Ducks Unlimited⁸, which helps preserve and restore wetlands for waterfowl. He says the Conservation Reserve Program has had a profound impact in the grain belt and elsewhere.

"Now we see all of those positive impacts that were all funded by taxpayers⁹ over the past 20 years are disappearing, are being washed away in a rush for new sources of energy via biofuels," he said.

Bruce Babcock says one alternative to pulling more lands out of conservation is to look outside the country for potential farmlands elsewhere, especially Brazil, Russia and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. He says Brazil alone has the potential to develop up to 100 million hectares in new cropland.

He says those kind of decisions hinge on foreign policy as well as environmental concerns.

"If we place a very high value on domestic wildlife habitat, then we would suggest that it would be better to develop land overseas," he added.  "If we don't care so much about our domestic wildlife habitat, then we should concentrate on developing our own land first."

Either way, Babcock says he does not expect crop prices to remain high, because farmers in the United States and elsewhere already are working to increase production.

1 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 shrub   

n.灌木，灌木丛

参考例句：

• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。
• Moving a shrub is best done in early spring.移植灌木最好是在初春的时候。

5 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

8 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。