Chad Taylor on Environment

Good farmers use best practices, as stewards of the land

A: We think the environment deserves an advocate, and if that advocate is not the government, then who would be its advocate? The Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act and other environmental legislation have provided a clear definition of "best practices." Chad's a farmer, and farms the same was his family did, applying those best practices. During the Dust Bowl, the then-current practices were bad conservation, which led to erosion and caused the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps, changed those practices: they planted hedgerows; introduced natural irrigation. Chad has been doing that for 20 years, and considers farmers to be stewards of the land, with an environmental ethic.