The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 20, 1986, Image 5

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    (t, Hyundai, Kay
ODD & ENDS |
Cocktail, End 4
Monday, October 20, 1986/The Batta'ion/Fage 5
waiibb farmers paid to leave land uncultivated
; 29 s
4 Drawer
Chest
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Texas land joins anti-erosion project
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Pieces
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6p.m.
arsal, Pulaski
oad
By Mark Beal
Reporter
Busily eroded land from 2,918 Texas farms
irecrntly accepted into the Conservation Re-
pene Program brings the total Texas acreage
inlhe federal program to more than one mil
lion acres.
In the program — an offshoot of the 1985
fann law — farmers and landowners with
determined by the Soil Conservation
Ivice to be highly erodible will receive com
pensation for crops not grown if they agree to
take that land out of production for the next
lOyears.
Bayments will be determined by bids made
byiarmers to the Agricultural Stabilization
and Conservation Service based on estima
tion' of the land’s expected yield and its pro-
luction history.
■ he average bid accepted by the ASCS for
as farms is $29.53 per acre, but has
relched as high as $55 per acre for land in
theRio Grande Valley.
Of the 45 million acres of land expected to
be included in the Conservation Reserve Pro
gram by the end of its five-year sign-up pe
riod, about 25 percent will be in Texas. Cur
rently Texas land accounts for only about 12
percent of the almost nine million acres in the
program nationwide.
In addition to leaving their land unculti
vated, farmers in the program will be re
quired to take measures to prevent erosion by
planting grass or trees.
The costs for this will be split equally be
tween the farmers and the government.
B.L. Harris, soils specialist for the Texas
Agricultural Extension Service at Texas
A&M, says the Soil Conservation Service de
fines highly erodible land as land with sandy
soil, deep soil with a slope greater than 2 to
2'A degrees or shallow soil with a slope
greater than 1 to HA degrees. Variations in
the slope specifications take into account the
amount of sand or clav in the soil.
Harris says Texas has more acres affected
by wind erosion than any other state.
He estimates that 60 percent to 70 percent
of all farms in Texas include at least some
land which would be defined as highly erodi
ble.
“We have a unique situation in Texas,
where the type of soil and climate come to
gether to make it particularly susceptible to
wind erosion,” he says.
He says Texas’ cotton growers are hit par
ticularly hard because of the loose soil re
quired for that type of farming.
In addition to incentives from the Soil Con
servation Program, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture has proposed rules to prevent
farmers from cultivating highly erodible
farmlands or converting wetlands to farm
land by making those farmers ineligible for
any money from the Agricultural Stabiliza
tion and Conservation Service or the Commo
dity Credit Corporation, Harris says.
This would cut them off from disaster pay
ments, storage facility loans, crop insurance,
price supports, and income supports. He says
these are funds most Texas farmers receive.
Harris says that while the prograro—- the
first to link soil conservation to government
subsidies :— will result in conservation of
Texas’ highly erodible soil, it also will result in
Some loss of self-determination for farmers.
“It will lead to the protection of fragile riat-
ural resources,” he says. “That’s the good
side. On the dark side, the program will re
place the decision making of landowners by
federal agencies.”
Harris says landowners c5n find a descrip
tion of the Conservation Reserve Program’s
provisions in the June 27 Federal Register
and can send their comments to the U.S. De
partment of Agriculture. The USDA will ac
cept comments on the program through Sat
urday.
JAES official: Agriculture has potential for growth
>0Ut
ities!
By Jody Kay Manley
Reporter
[exas agriculture has plenty of
lor growth, the director of the
jT^as Agricultural Experiment Sta-
H] said at a seminar Saturday in the
Bnioiial Student Center.
J)i. Neville Clarke discussed the
[growth potential for Texas agricul
ture in the presentation to members
oftheTexas Farm Bureau.
abilities
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Entry I ruthless people r
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1986 [2002 E. 29th
1 STAMP BY MEr
UGH GUYS po
SCHULMAN 6
775-2463
ibian|
LNGHAI SURPRISE re 13
CODE NAME:
WILD GEESE r
KKYS 105 Presents
$ DOLLAR DAYS $
fthis Week's Features Are:
KARATE KID H rc
NOTHING IN COMMON re-ta
Evans Lite]
ALIENS ps-13
In addition, Dr. Zerle Carpenter,
director of the Texas Agricultural
Extension Service, spoke on the
long-range plans in agriculture.
Clarke said the growth potential
for agriculture includes support by
higher education, a growing in-state
market, a state population of 20 mil
lion by the year 2000, a central loca
tion for marketing, an extensive ru
ral road network and port facilities.
Texas has more than 60 impor
tant commodities and a distributed
extension of research, he said.
He also said Texas needs support
from the users of research: the polit
ical, financial and technical areas.
Clarke said initiatives being intro
duced in agriculture include inte
grated farming systems, biotechno
logy, pest control, food quality and
value added.
An example of value added would
be producing a better quality of cot
ton rather than a higher yield.
“We are trying to understand
what the consumer wants,” Clarke
said.
Carpenter said planning groups
in each county decide what the most
critical issues in their counties are.
About 4,900 critical issues were
identified, and then reduced to a
dozen major issues.
The major issues included agri
cultural diversification, water quality
and conservation, leadership devel
opment and economic development.
The marketing of agricultural
and natural resource products also
was identified as a major issue.
West Texas city
plans acquifer
rights lawsuit
SAN ANGELO (AP) — Offi
cials in this West Texas city say
they may sue a Hill Country wa
ter district to protect their right to
pump water from an acquifer
they helped develop.
The suit Would challenge rules
created by the Hickory Under
ground Water District last year
that control the exporting of wa
ter from the Hickory Sand Ac
quifer.
City officials believe the rules
may block San Angelo from using
water it owns in the freshwater
acquifer that lies under parts of
Concho, Menard, McCulloch,
San Saba, Llano and Mason coun
ties.
In July 1985, the Hickory Wa
ter District established rules re
quiring a permit to export water
from the district, setting an appli
cation fee, and giving the district
board the right to charge a water
user fee.
Under the rules, San Angelo
water officials must tell the dis
trict how the water it exports will
affect water quality and quantity
within the district. The board also
would have the right to deny a
permit if it felt the exportation
would adversely effect the ac
quifer.
The San Angelo City Council
plans to meet with the water dis
trict attorney Tuesday.
You’ll get first hand experience in the court
room right from the start. In three years, you
could handle more than 3,000 cases in a
wide variety of subjects
from international to con
tracts to criminal law. If
you think you have what
it takes to be a Marine Corps Officer and
lawyer, talk with the Marine Corps Officer
Selection Officer when he visits your campus.
More than 190,000
Marines could use,
your service.
Heir looking fora fengoixl men.
TO SCHOOL rets
Meet Capt Mahany at the Memorial Student Center
October 28 - 30, November 4 - 6 or call 846-9030.