Released May 8, 2008

Conservation practices by farmers may have value to others in society. That’s market-based conservation. Farmers may be able to generate income by implementing conservation practices.

On May 16, three presenters will provide an overview of market-based conservation and experiences from two programs. One program generates carbon credit revenue with methane capture covers on manure lagoons and storage facilities. The other is the New York City watershed program; upstate farmers are paid to implement best management practices to protect the New York City water supply. The program will end with a discussion of what is needed to promote market-based conservation in the United States.

The presenters for the May one-hour seminar are Suzy Friedman, Environmental Defense Fund; Dale Dewing, Cornell University; and Jim Jensen, Environmental Credit Corporation.

The Web meeting room opens 15 minutes before the start time. The program begins at 1:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Go to http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/lpelc/ to view. Next month’s seminar is June 20 on nutrient management for small-scale farms.

LPE Learning Center

The seminar is hosted by the Livestock and Poultry Environmental (LPE) Learning Center, part of eXtension. The center advocates that individuals involved in public policy issues, animal production and delivery of technical services for confined animal systems should have on-demand access to the nation's best science-based resources.

The center has a monthly newsletter. You may subscribe online. All information including archived monthly Webcasts from the past year is on www.eXtension.org under the resource area animal manure management.

The Webcasts are approved for one continuing education unit (each) for Certified Crop Advisers and members of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) program. To receive CEUs, view a live or archived webcast, and follow the instructions on Continuing Education Units.

eXtension is an educational partnership helping Americans improve their lives with access to timely, objective, research-based information and educational opportunities. eXtension’s interactive Web site, http://www.extension.org, is customized with links to local Cooperative Extension Web sites. Land-grant colleges were founded on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all, that colleges should teach liberal and practical subjects and share knowledge with people throughout their states.

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Contacts: Jill Heemstra, University of Nebraska, (402) 748-3909, jheemstra@unl.edu

Lynette Spicer, Iowa State University, (515) 294-1327, lspicer@iastate.edu