Making Sense of Federal Programs: USDA Conservation Compliance, Sodbuster and Swampbuster Conservation Compliance, Sodbuster and Swampbuster rules from the 1985 Farm Bill remain largely in place in the 1996 Farm Bill. Under Swampbuster and Sodbuster, farmers who cultivate Highly Erodible Land (HEL) that was not cultivated between 1981 and 1985 or convert a wetland that was not farmed prior to 1985 are ineligible for most major farm program benefits. Conservation Compliance requires that farmers who cultivate HEL that was in production prior to 1985 do so under an approved conservation plan. Farmers are allowed to revise the conservation plan if the same level of conservation treatment is maintained. USDA may allow a farmer to attempt field trials of conservation practices that are not currently approved but that USDA considers have a reasonable likelihood of success.
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