07/05/06 Your chance to speak up on conservation

If you want to put in your two cents worth on how conservation programs should operate under the 2007 farm bill you have a chance to do so tomorrow. The NRCS State Technical Advisory Committee will meet in Boise. SIMS "This is really critical for me to get the input from the general public on what direction we should be going in the farm bill programs for fiscal year '07." That's state conservationist Rich Sims. He says input from the public helps him and his staff work through problems and issues to insure that the dollars are best spent. SIMS "The majority of the discussion is on the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Security Program. And just some examples, in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is what should the dollar amounts be set for the cost share rate for conservation practices and what's the dollar amount that practices should be equal to. We pay quite a bit of attention to the small and limited resources producers. Should they have a 50 percent cost share, 75 percent cost share or should it be as high as 90 percent as allowed within the farm bill?" Sims says he and his staff want to hear concerns like they, they will listen to the ideas presented tomorrow and then try to make what changes they can in Idaho under federal perimeters. The meeting is from 9 am to 3 pm Thursday at the USDA complex in Boise. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott