Ch. 5— Wetland Trends '111 



ricultural conversion activities and enforcement of 

 section 404 is not now considered possible, given 

 the current manpower and budget of the Corps. 



Economic factors (e.g., profits, available land, 

 costs of maintaining wetlands) and Government 

 policies often are cited as reasons for converting 

 wetlands to agricultural use. 



ECONOMIC FACTORS 



Commodity prices are a major factor in the deci- 

 sion to expend funds to bring wetlands into pro- 

 duction. In some parts of the country, when prices 

 are sufficiendy high, it can be extremely lucrative 

 to grow crops on wetsoils that may, but not neces- 

 sarily, include wetlands. For example, in an anal- 

 ysis of minimum prices and potential yields for con- 

 version of different wetsoils to soybean production 

 in the southern Mississippi Valley alluvium, it was 

 found that the minimum price for planting soybeans 

 profitably ranged from $L05 to $2.31 per bushel 

 (bu) (5). With soybean prices ranging from a low 

 of about $2.00/bu in 1958 to a high of over $7.00/bu 

 in 1976, growing soybeans has been extremely lu- 

 crative (10). Production alternatives on these bot- 

 tom land hardwood acres are not nearly as econom- 

 ically desirable as crop production. For instance, 

 sustained timber production from natural bottom 

 land hardwood stands is not considered to be a 

 viable economic investment. Hardwood plantations 

 can produce good returns on some sites, but crop 

 returns are better (10). 



There is general agreement that the primary rea- 

 sons for draining wetlands in the prairie-pothole 

 region are the economic and technological factors 

 associated with farming, including the: 



• elimination of the nuisance and cost of avoid- 

 ing potholes situated within cropland; 



• opportunity to gain relatively productive crop- 

 land by draining wedands (particularly if land 

 is already owned); 



• change in farming from a diversified crop- 

 livestock combination to increasing emphasis 

 on row-crop and small-grain production; 



• rapid increase in tractor horsepower, which in- 

 creases avoidance costs and facilitates drainage 

 of potholes by providing the power to operate 

 drainage equipment. This allows the land- 



owner the opportunity to drain his own land 

 during slack periods at low cost; 



• continuing increase in the use of center-pivot 

 irrigation systems that are not compatible with 

 potholes; 



• variable short-term climatic conditions that in- 

 crease nuisance and cost factors in a wet year 

 and provide opportunity for low-cost drainage 

 in a dry year; 



• short-term net farm income variability, which 

 provides investment capital for drainage dur- 

 ing periods of high income and increases the 

 incentive to expand cropland area; 



• absence of private returns from maintaining 

 wedands without Government programs; and 



• low returns from Government incentives to 

 preserve wetland relative to profits from con- 

 version (6). 



Pressures on agricultural lands from urban use 

 (also an economic issue) may increase demands for 

 agricultural land on wetlands in some parts of the 

 country. For example, in south Florida, land use 

 data for a single county between 1972 and 1980 

 showed that 23,767 acres of wetlands were con- 

 verted to agricultural use while 655 acres were ur- 

 banized. During that same period, 24,539 acres of 

 agricultural lands were lost to urbanization. Thus 

 it appears that urbanization displaces agriculture, 

 which then moves into wetland areas (1). 



Costs of maintaining wetlands may be a factor 

 in the decision to convert to agriculture in a few 

 circumstances. For example, the California case 

 study noted examples where hunting club land- 

 owners in the Central Valley found it too costly to 

 maintain wetlands for waterfowl habitat because 

 of local property tax policies. Wetlands were taxed 

 as recreational lands at a higher rate than were ag- 

 ricultural lands. Costs of water and taxes have stim- 

 ulated some hunt clubs to convert portions of their 

 land for crop use (7); however, property taxes aren't 

 considered to be a factor in conversion to agricul- 

 ture in most other regions of the country. For ex- 

 ample, in Nebraska, wetlands are taxed at a nom- 

 inal rate (9). 



The cost of direct conversions of wedand to ag- 

 ricultural use depends on the characteristics of the 

 area to be converted. Relevant characteristics in- 

 clude how wet it is and for what period of time. 



