Conservation Clips are a weekly collection of articles distributed by NACD that provides our members and partners with the latest news in what's driving conservation. If you have a relevant submission, please contact your NACD Communications Team.

Agri-Pulse: Opinion: Reconsidering the Rescission Package
By Bruce Knight
05/24/18

(Opinion) The rescission package the Administration recently proposed would make significant cuts in funding that Congress has authorized for important agricultural conservation programs administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). These monies are not spare change but precious dollars the agency intends to use to address a backlog of pending conservation requests. The funds need to be preserved and reserved for conservation— not returned to the federal treasury.

CNBC: Farm bill to get second vote in US House in June: Roll Call
05/22/18

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote for a second time on a massive farm bill after the measure was defeated last week. The vote on the $867 billion bill will be held on June 22, Republican Representative Steve Scalise said.

Agri-Pulse: Senate appropriators OK ag, energy and water bills
By Steve Davies
05/24/18

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved bills to fund the USDA, FDA and Army Corps of Engineers that steer clear of environmental issues addressed by the House’s versions of those same spending bills.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Robot weed killers poised to disrupt U.S. agriculture
By Ludwig Burger and Tom Polansek
05/22/18

Undergoing final tests before the liquid is replaced with weedkiller, the Swiss robot is one of a new breed of AI weeders that could disrupt the $100 billion pesticides and seeds industry by reducing the need for universal herbicides and the genetically modified (GM) crops that tolerate them.

Agri-Pulse: Opinion: Tribes focus on the Farm Bill, Agriculture
By Marshall Matz
05/22/18

(Opinion) Indian Tribes in the heartland have focused on the opportunities presented by the farm bill in a more organized way than ever before. To help Native American communities shape this massive legislation, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community commissioned the Regaining Our Future report to analyze the risks and opportunities for Indian Country in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Newsweek: Scientists find ‘major change’ in freshwater caused by agriculture, climate
By Meghan Bartels
05/17/18

The study looks at freshwater between 2002 and 2016 and suggests that water distribution is becoming more extreme—places that used to have more water have even more water, and places that used to have less water have even less water.

High Plains Journal: Twenty-six years later: How one Kansas farmer became a convert and saved his soil
By Amy Bickel
05/21/18

His mission is to eliminate erosion and rebuild soil health. The journey, he said, hasn’t been easy. But Swanson sees changes across his fields. He uses fewer inputs. His soils are healthier. When he began no-tilling in the early 1990s, organic matter was at 1.9 percent. Today, it measures about 3 percent.

Delta Farm Press: Pete Hunter notes changes in equipment, chemicals and farm policy
By Ron Smith
05/04/18

Administrative transformation, he explains, moves control of conservation programs from a state or local level to Washington to be approved. “We need to send conservation back to the control of the state conservationist,” he says.

The Washington Post: Maryland begins program to replenish freshwater mussels
By Liz Bowie
05/19/18

The little known or appreciated mussel lies in stream bottoms for most of its life, out of sight and growing slowly for decades. This year, though, it’s getting attention from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and a couple of biologists-- who value mussels for keeping water clean and giving life to other species --and are attempting for the first time to grow tens of thousands in a hatchery.

DTN The Progressive Farmer: Hopes for El Nino by Autumn; No Easing Of Southwest Drought
By Bryce Anderson
05/25/18

The harsh drought over the southwestern U.S. is expected to last through most of the summer. More than two-thirds of the southwestern U.S. is already in some stage of drought; close to 40% of the region is in "extreme" or "exceptional" drought.

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