a reclassification to seasonal roads thereby eliminating the plowing of snow. 

 The number of families with children living on the rural fringes would 

 be reduced. School bus transportation is a costly public service which 

 could be reduced by participation in the Program. ^ 



CONCLUSIONS 



The Conservation Reserve Program in Coos County, New Hampshire 

 was appraised on four bases: (1) Attainment of Program objectives of a 

 1 eduction in production of crops for which there is a surplus, and increased 

 conservation of natural resources; (2) Impact on the economy; (3) Effect 

 on the efficiency with which resources are utilized; and (4) Future appli- 

 cation to New England agriculture. 



The conclusions are applicable to the type of agriculture exemplified by 

 Coos County, New Hampshire. They must be thought of in terms of this 

 context and that the Program has been in operation only four years. 

 However, Coos County is typical of many farming communities in New 

 England, 



Attainment of Program Objectives 



The study demonstrates that the Conservation Reserve Program did not 

 contribute a great deal toward the objective of reducing agricultural pro- 

 duction. About 17 percent of the country's cropland was enrolled in the 

 Program, but milk production was reduced only 3 percent and hay pro- 

 duction by a modest amount. The achievement of increased conservation 

 of soil, water, forest and wildlife resources was the most successful aspect 

 of the Program. 



The reason production was not greatly affected was apparent and prob- 

 ably was predictable at the time the Program started. Payments were not 

 high enough to attract most operators of organized units, but they were 

 very attractive to owners of unorganized units. In order to attract or- 

 ganized dairy units, incentive payments must be high enough to divert 

 all the resources employed in the production process on the farm, the 

 productive values of which in a particular organized unit generally are 

 greater than their sale values as component parts. Besides the basic land 

 components these resources include livestock, buildings, and equipment. 

 In some instances, dairy farmers enrolled in the Program because the 

 discounted expected income from the farm was considerably lower than 

 the discounted expected income from Conservation Reserve payments, plus 

 wages or other income made possible by the shift from farming. These 

 situations were reinforced by a large number of unorganized units with 

 relatively little expected current or future agricultural earnings. 



11 Some local governments have placed qualified rural units in the Soil Bank with 

 the intention of reducing total public expenditures. It can be shown that for many 

 rural towns it would be profitable to purchase rural residences, permitting reclassifica- 

 tion of roads, reduced school bus transportation, and snow plowing, as well as some 

 maintenance costs. Frequently the public service costs of isolated residences far exceeds 

 ^ax payments from these units. 



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