Wait a minute... I had it all wrong! When I caught hold of the headline, I got excited. But after I read the entire article, I discovered that the farmers aren't doing this out of the kindness of their heart.
So this is our federal government's ANSWER to the ecological catastrophe they're ENABLING along the Gulf coast?!?! If they can go through ALL OF THIS TROUBLE in getting these farmers to cooperate with this request... WHY THE HECK can't they move their ARSES to prevent the oil from entering the marshes?!?! NOW I want you to think about this for a moment... their land is going to be flooded for the waterfowl, great BUT the price of RICE is going to SKYROCKET because these farmers are NOT GOING TO BE PRODUCING RICE!!! This world will also be SUPPLIED with less rice output/production. UGH!
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The News Star
written by Greg Hilburn
Saturday June 3, 2010
Northeastern Louisiana rice farmers may keep their fields flooded throughout the winter to entice migrating waterfowl to stop short of the coastal marshland threatened by oil from the BP spill.
A new U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service program would pay producers in eight states to begin flooding as many as 150,000 acres of fallow fields this summer and harvested fields this fall.
"I think it's a wonderful program with tremendous potential benefits for both wildlife and farmers," said John Owen of Richland Parish, a members of the Louisiana Rice Growers Association board and president of the Northeast Louisiana Rice Growers Association.
Natural Resources Conservation Service state conservationist Kevin Norton said he expects not all of the details of the program, including the price per acre the government would pay farmers, has been complete.
"We will be evaluating applications and funding before Aug. 1," Norton said.
The program includes northeastern and southwestern Louisiana.
Owen estimated that it would take at least $50 to $75 per acre to attract the acreage the government hopes for in the program, and the Louisiana Rice Growers Association has agreed to form a committee to propose the amount of compensation that would be adequate.
He said the cost for farmers to maintain such habitat would vary depending on whether producers had to irrigate and land preparation.
The program wants both flooded fields with 10 to 12 inches of water for ducks and geese and mud flats with an inch or less of water than shore birds prefer.
"There would be some fairly intensive management practices on some fields, especially the fallow fields that have to be disked and irrigated this summer," Owen said.
The migration season will begin in a few weeks with shorebirds followed by teal in September and ducks and geese later in the fall.
Richland Parish rice farmer Fred Franklin said he believes farmers will be willing to participate.
"Most farmers are dedicated conservationists," Franklin said.
Johnny Saichuk, the LSU AgCenter's rice specialist, agreed.
"They are concerned about the environment, and they are willing to help," he said.
Saichuk studied the costs of pumping water, and it averaged $25 an acre when diesel was much cheaper.
"It's pretty expensive and these guys couldn't afford to flood up without compensation," he said.
The other states in the program are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.
Norton recently told the Louisiana Rice Growers Association board that multiple wildlife organizations have been interested in persuading farmers to flood their fields in anticipation of the oil spill disrupting waterfowl overwintering this year along the coast.
He said he has received calls from across the nation.
"People want to do something to offset the impacts (of the spill)," he said.
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