Is Federal Crop Insurance Policy Leading to Another Dust Bowl?

As the southern Great Plains get hotter and drier, is federal policy that encourages farmers not to adapt to climate change leading to another Dust Bowl?That's the troubling question raised by a new EWG report that shows how a provision in the federal crop insurance program provides a strong financial incentive for growers to plant the same crops in the same way, year in and year out, regardless of changing climate conditions. What's worse, this program is focused on the same southern Great Plains counties hit hardest by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, the worst man-made environmental disaster in American history.The federal crop insurance program guarantees farmers' earnings from their crops won't fall below a percentage of their usual income. The percentage is set based on a multi-year average of a farmer's actual crop yields. Averaging good and bad years grounds the program in reality.But a provision called the Actual Production History Yield Exclusion – snuck into the 2014 Farm Bill during conference negotiations – allows growers to drop bad years from their average crop yield calculations. The government simply pretends these bad years didn't happen. In some cases, more than 15 bad years can be thrown out when calculating the average yield, resulting in artificially inflated insurance payouts.It makes sense for crop insurance to give growers a break if they're occasionally hit by one or two bad years, but keeping growers on a treadmill of failed crops and insurance payouts is foolish. Helping farmers adapt to the new weather conditions would be considerably better, and was exactly what helped growers survive the Dust Bowl and return to productivity.The southern Great Plains are getting hotter and drier. Drought has been common over the last 10 years and forecasts show the number of days above 100 degrees quadrupling by 2050. Implementing conservation practices to adapt to changing climate conditions is vital for growers who want to stay in business.Some, but not enough, growers are already adopting conservation techniques in this region. Savings from ending the misguided yield exclusion policy could be used to help more growers change the way they farm to face the challenges posed by a changing climate

'Retired' Sensitive Cropland: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

Falling commodity prices have renewed farmers' interest in expanding the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, which protects environmentally sensitive land by paying farmers "rent" to take it out of crop production. CRP has long been the cornerstone of federal conservation policy, but its benefits are fleeting. Once the rental contracts expire, farmers go back to planting crops and the benefits are lost. Long-term or permanent conservation easements would do a much better job of mitigating the negative environmental impacts of American agriculture.That's the finding of a new EWG report that shows how conservation easement programs are better for the environment and are better investments for taxpayers than CRP. Traditional row-crop agriculture is increasingly causing environmental and public health problems. Threats to public health through contaminated drinking water, poor air quality and toxic algal blooms are widespread and costly, and fish and wildlife habitats and populations face ongoing risks.Although CRP provides conservation benefits that help alleviate these threats, the benefits are lost as soon as the contract expires and land is brought back into crop production. Between 2007 and 2014, 15.8 million acres dropped out of the CRP program and were not re-enrolled. These 10-year contracts cost taxpayers an estimated $7.3 billion to rent. At the same time, only 6.7 million "new" acres were enrolled in CRP, for a net loss of more than 9 million acres.Programs that focus on long-term or permanent easements already exist. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program works with states to target high-priority objectives, including conservation easements. The Wetland Reserve Easement option in the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program enrolls acres in easements to restore, protect and enhance wetlands.Instead of expanding CRP, more funding in the 2018 Farm Bill should go to both of these highly effective programs. That would be a better deal for taxpayers, the environment and public health.

Toward Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Consensually Non-monogamous Clients: Results from a Mixed-Method Analysis of Therapy Practices and Outcomes

An estimated 4-5% of Americans endorse being in a consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationship--numbers comparable to those identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB; Conley, Moors, Matsick, & Ziegler, 2012; Gates, 2011). Despite the pervasive stigma associated with CNM, it is considered healthy and viable romantic relationship option (Conley, Ziegler, Moors, Matsick, & Valentine, 2013; Rubel & Bogaert, 2014). Therapists, however, receive little to no training about CNM or the CNM community (Weitzman, 2006). Two hundred forty-nine individuals in CNM relationships responded to open and closed-ended survey questions about their experiences with past and current therapists. Of the therapists seen by CNM clients, nearly one-third (29%) were found to be lacking the basic knowledge of CNM needed to be an effective therapist, and only 27% were considered quite knowledgeable of CNM. Twenty-six percent therapists seen were found to be either not at all helpful (15%) or destructive (11%). Approximately one out of every ten (11%) CNM clients prematurely terminated sessions because of a negative interaction with their therapist regarding their CNM identity/lifestyle. These results highlight the need for empirically-based guidelines that could be included in mental health curricula and continuing education training. Resources developed for use with LGB clients may be helpful in developing CNM guidelines. In this study, swapping sexual orientation language for relationship orientation language (e.g., heterosexual for monogamous) on practice guidelines for LGB clients, led to the creation of a 13-item scale that accounted for half (50%) of the variance in therapist helpfulness scores for CNM clients. In light of the findings and available research, an initial set of empirically based guidelines for psychological practice with CNM clients are also proposed

Addressing Stigma Through Evidence Based Recommendations: An Introductory Fact Sheet on Consensual Non-Monogamy

An integral part to sexuality science is bridging the research-outreach gap through the creation of public educational materials. While there has been a resurgence in empirical and clinical attention to consensual nonmonogamy (CNM), the distribution of its findings are not easily accessible. Recent studies have shown that 1 in 5 people report having engaged in a CNM relationship (polyamorous, swinging, and open relationships) in their lifetime (Haupert, Gesselman, Moors, Fisher, & Garcia, 2017). Meanwhile, the general public has yet to recognize its presence in mainstream culture. The goal of this project is to create a Consensual Non-Monogamy Fact Sheet, as part of the American Psychological Association Division 44 Consensual Non-Monogamy Task Force, to provide (1) an overview of recent research (e.g., prevalence, relationship qualities, mental health), (2) empirically supported recommendations for clinical practice and research, and (3) ways to reduce stigma surrounding these relationship styles. Using a mini-Delphi method, we outlined themes of converging information, engaged in reiterative feedback with experts, and condensed the most suitable information for a diverse audience into a concise, digestible fact sheet. In addition, the CNM fact sheet helps bridge the researchoutreach gap by addressing common misconceptions about CNM and serving as an introductory tool for those who are uninformed about the topic. Stigma surrounding CNM has led to a lack of empirical research (Conley, Matsick, Moors, & Ziegler, 2017) and clinical errors in treating individuals who practice CNM (Schechinger, Sakaluk, & Moors, 2018). This project addresses the need for evidence-based, accessible, and easy-to-read information on human sexuality

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Harmful and Helpful Therapy Practices with Consensually Non-Monogamous Clients: Toward an Inclusive Framework

Drawing on minority stress perspectives, we investigated the therapy experiences of individuals in consensually nonmonogamous (CNM) relationships. Method: We recruited a community sample of 249 individuals engaged in CNM relationships across the U.S. and Canada. Confirmatory factor analysis structural equation modeling was used to analyze client perceptions of therapist practices in a number of exemplary practices (affirming of CNM) or inappropriate practices (biased, inadequate, or not affirming of CNM), and their associations with evaluations of therapy. Open-end responses about what clients found very helpful and very unhelpful were also analyzed. Results: Exemplary and inappropriate practices constituted separate but related patterns of therapist conduct. As expected, perceptions of exemplary and inappropriate practices predicted therapist helpfulness ratings and whether participants prematurely terminated their therapeutic relationships. Qualitative results point toward the importance of having/pursuing knowledge about CNM and using affirming, nonjudgmental practices. Conclusions: Therapists are positioned to either combat or perpetuate the minority stress faced by individuals engaged in CNM. The results of this study highlight the need for additional research, training, and guidelines regarding CNM clients and their therapy experiences

Internalized Consensual Non-Monogamy Negativity and Relationship Quality Among People Engaged in Polyamory, Swinging, and Open Relationships

Drawing on an internalized homonegativity and minority stress framework, the present study sought to address whether people engaged in consensual non-monogamy (CNM) internalize stigma toward their relationship style, and if internalized CNM negativity is associated with poorer relationship quality and functioning. We recruited a community sample of 339 people engaged in CNM (open, swinging, or polyamorous relationship) with at least two concurrent partners. Participants completed a newly developed measure of internalized CNM negativity (which assessed personal discomfort, social discomfort, and public identification) and four measures of relationship quality for each partner. Regression analyses showed that personal discomfort with CNM (e.g., wanting to change one’s relationship style or endorsing CNM as unnatural) was associated with lower satisfaction with romantic and sexual relationship agreements, global relationship satisfaction, and commitment (but not sexual satisfaction) in both concurrent relationships. The other two dimensions of internalized CNM negativity, social discomfort and public identification, were not related to relationship quality with either partner. These findings provide support for the notion that prevailing mononormativity (idealization of monogamy in society) can become applied to the self and negatively impact relationship quality. Understanding the processes in which broader societal stigma toward CNM can become internalized and affect well-being provides a new direction for research at the intersection of public health, psychology, and sexuality

The Bear Facts

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The Bear Facts

Vol. 6, Issue 2, Nov. 1978https://openspace.dmacc.edu/banner_news/1015/thumbnail.jp