Evaluating the Conservation Security Program utilizing the perceptions and economics of producer participation: implications for land stewardship in Iowa agriculture

Agriculture in the United States (US) has been the focus of a number of studies that address the link between on-farm agricultural practices and the degradation of natural resources. The mounting body of evidence that associates certain cropping and grazing practices with soil and waterway damage points to a need for federal agricultural policy to provide improved conservation incentives for agricultural producers. This study focuses on the first two years of the Conservation Security Program (CSP) in Iowa, a watershed based conservation program introduced with the 2002 Federal Farm Act. This new green payment program emphasizes rewarding the best stewards of natural resources and attracting the rest via reward payments and cost share incentives.;Previous studies of the CSP have been performed in a number of agricultural regions of the US including the Midwest corn belt. All have typically utilized only one research method such as interviews, focus groups, case studies or in-depth examinations of program spending. While collectively these studies have established the promise of the program as well as its limitations, this study provides a thorough examination of the CSP\u27s implemnetation in Iowa, using an approach that combines a statisitically representative mail survey of producers in the state\u27s first four CSP watersheds with 13 in-depth interviews in a complimentary manner.;Results are consistent with the findings of other studies, suggesting that the CSP is rewarding the status quo of corn, and soybean crop production in the state with little incentive for producers who have not invested previously in stewardship to improve their standards of conservation. There appears to be little to distinguish among CSP enrollees as program participants were found to be relatively homogeneous, with many already receiving payments through other conservation programs. CSP payments were found to be unevenly distributed among producers, with some probably being over compensated for the costs of their conservation which threatens program compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) green box rules.;Rewarding producers for practices already in place is not lost on long term stewards, as enrollment in traditional conservation programs has typically allocated the highest payments to those practicing the least conservation. With the 2007 Farm Bill in mind, the effectiveness of the CSP at promoting and preserving natural resources could be greatly improved by capitalizing on the current period of high commodity prices by redirecting savings from Loan Deficiency and Counter-Cyclical payments into simplifying the CSP exclusively as a reward program for proven stewards. Additionally, conservation compliance for commodity programs should be improved and enforced so that the environmental benefits of producers practicing land stewardship is not undermined by producers unwilling to maintain conservation minimums. Promoting the CSP exclusively as a reward program should provide the needed incentive for unproven land stewards to take advantage of costshare programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to transition to higher levels of stewardship, increasing the overall acreage of conservation treatment in Iowa and reducing the total area of environmentally damaging practices

Spectral Index of the Diffuse Radio Background Measured From 100 to 200 MHz

The mean absolute brightness temperature of the diffuse radio background was measured as a function of frequency in a continuous band between 100 and 200 MHz over an effective solid angle of ~pi str at high Galactic latitude. A spectral brightness temperature index of beta = 2.5 +/- 0.1 (alpha_s = 0.5) was derived from the observations, where the error limits are 3-sigma and include estimates of the instrumental systematics. Zenith drift scans with central declinations of -26.5 degrees and spanning right ascensions 0 to 10 hours yielded little variation in the mean spectral index. The mean absolute brightness temperature at 150 MHz was found to reach a minimum of T = 237 +/- 10 K at a right ascension of 2.5 hours. Combining these measurements with those of Haslam et al. 1982 yields a spectral index of beta = 2.52 +/- 0.04 between 150 and 408 MHz.Comment: 8 pages including 7 figures and 4 tables. Accepted by A

Nitrogen cycling, forest canopy reflectance, and emergent properties of ecosystems

In Ollinger et al. (1), we reported that mass-based concentrations of nitrogen in forest canopies (%N) are positively associated with whole-canopy photosynthetic capacity and canopy shortwave albedo in temperate and boreal forests, the latter result stemming from a positive correlation between %N and canopy near infrared (NIR) reflectance. This finding is intriguing because a functional link between %N and NIR reflectance could indicate an influence of nitrogen cycling on surface energy exchange, and could provide a means for estimating %N using broad-band satellite sensors

Ensemble Kalman Methods: A Mean Field Perspective

This paper provides a unifying mean field based framework for the derivation and analysis of ensemble Kalman methods. Both state estimation and parameter estimation problems are considered, and formulations in both discrete and continuous time are employed. For state estimation problems both the control and filtering approaches are studied; analogously, for parameter estimation (inverse) problems the optimization and Bayesian perspectives are both studied. The approach taken unifies a wide-ranging literature in the field, provides a framework for analysis of ensemble Kalman methods, and suggests open problems

Pneumococcal hemolytic uremic syndrome and steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome

Pneumococcal-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (pHUS) is a rare but severe complication of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. We report the case of a 12-year-old female with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome treated with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (H.P. Acthar(®) Gel), who developed pneumococcal pneumonia and subsequent pHUS. While nephrotic syndrome is a well-known risk factor for invasive pneumococcal disease, this is the first reported case of pHUS in an adolescent patient with nephrotic syndrome, and reveals novel challenges in the diagnosis, treatment and potential prevention of this complication