Committee members
Past President Jeri Thornsberry, T.C. Loving, Pete Hobson, Jeff Olson, and Al Kadolph.
Important Dates
Wednesday, December 10, 5:00 PM. Resolutions Committee Meeting
Monday, December 15. Resolutions Process Letter sent to all districts
Thursday, January 15. 7:00 PM Monthly Executive Committee Meeting. EC discusses the recommendations of the Resolutions Committee.
Friday, March 27. SWCD submitted resolutions due to CDI
Friday, April 3. CDI Resolutions Committee Meeting Resolutions sent to IDALS, NRCS for comment
Monday, April 20. CDI emails Pre-Conference Resolutions Packet to districts for voting.
Wednesday, July 1. Pre-conference Resolutions Ballots due to CDI.
Friday, July 10. Pre-conference Resolutions Voting Results posted on CDI’s website.
Monday, August 24. CDI Annual Business Meeting Gateway Center. (Date is tentative.)
Candidates for Archiving
Page 10
CATEGORY Legislative / Policies
RESOLUTION TITLE Supporting Farmer-led Conservation in Clean Energy Policy
YEAR APPROVED 2021
SPONSORING DISTRICT CDI Executive Board
STATEMENT: Many states have passed individual clean fuel standards in the past few years. The majority of these policies do not credit the good conservation efforts that farmers undertake on their farms. The assumption being that famers are going to do conservation, why put a value on their efforts. We believe that farmers are the foremost conservationists in soil conservation and water quality and those efforts deserve to be rewarded.
ACTION: CDI supports the formulation of a Midwest Clean Energy Policy which both recognizes and rewards farmer led conservation and carbon storage efforts. Such policy should start with the basic knowledge that farmers who incorporate conservation into their farming practices are responsible for the lower carbon emissions that clean energy provides.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: During the past two years, CDI has been involved with a clean fuel study group. One of the concerns that has arisen from this participation is that over 90% of the value of carbon storage through farmer conservation efforts is not credited to the farmer who is storing the carbon to the benefit of all society. Farmers have been clean energy leaders for many years by promoting the environmental benefits of ethanol and biodiesel, yet those efforts are considered to be baseline carbon storage in clean energy policies. In order to increase conservation efforts through carbon storage programs, farmers must be fairly compensated for their increased work.
Page 18
CATEGORY State Cost Share Programs
RESOLUTION TITLE Allow Location Flexibility for Multi-year State Cost Shared Cover Crops
YEAR APPROVED 2021
SPONSORING DISTRICT Cherokee
STATEMENT: Using cover crops on the same acres two consecutive years provides producers an opportunity to begin to realize the long-term benefits of cover crops. Sometimes during the second year, producers have a field that would be better suited for the success of a cover crop for that season. For example, the original designated field may have experienced crop canopy damage from hail, drought, flooding, or fertility issues. If allowed to switch acres and still receive cost share, producers could be encouraged to use these unfortunate events as opportunities to capture additional sunlight through the use of cover crops. Building flexibility into the program could increase the chances of successful back-to-back cover crops.
ACTION: CDI supports IDALS rewriting the policy on multi-year cover crop contracts to read “Multi-year contracts should be on the same ground and the same number of acres each year of the contract unless there are unforeseen technical or weather issues that arise. Pre-approval and technical guidance must be given to switch the location of the practice.”
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The current policy wording is “Multi-year contracts must be on the same ground and the same number of acres each year of the contract.”