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6 <br /> 1. )`4 t_ <br /> 2. <br /> 3. <br /> He said most of that was going to the Midwest. Commissioner Walker <br /> • <br /> 5. asked Mr. Cox if he thought it was right to lock farmers into a cer- <br /> 6. tain use for their land when they might want to use it for some- <br /> 7. thing else. Mr. Cox said his understanding was that the program <br /> 8. was voluntary. <br /> 4. A man later identified as Joe Phelps asked who were the members <br /> :10. of the Agricultural Task Force Implementation Committee, Ms. Smith <br /> 11. named those; she further recited the notices given for the meetings <br /> 12. and the percentage of participation in the meetings . Mr. Phelps <br /> �3. asked if all people had input. Ms. Smith replied that as many far- <br /> 14. mers as possible were involved in this process, Mr. Phelps said <br /> 15a he was the President of the Farmer's Bureau and he 'd had no=noti- <br /> 16. fication of these meetings. Ms, Smith said two letters had been <br /> 17. sent to the Farmers' Bureau over the past three months and said <br /> 18. she would get copies of those letters for him. <br /> 19. Commissioner Lloyd asked the definition of "critical areas : " <br /> 20. Mr. Bob Tennant, Soil Conservation Division, said that this <br /> 21. is "that area that takes above normal practices to bring under <br /> 22. control . For example, steep banks, any area where there is severe <br /> 23. loss of soil ." <br /> 24. Mr. Tennant added that 24 tons soil lost per acre was considered <br /> 25. critical ; the average was 18 tons/acre/year. <br /> 26. Commissioner Lloyd protested the length of the sign up in the <br /> 27. program and strict adherence to soil conservation practices as cri- <br /> 28. teria for participation. He requested that these two requirements <br /> 29. be deleted. <br /> 30. Mr. Carl Walters, a member of the Implementation Committee and <br /> 31. a farmer, read a list of Farmers ' Bureau members who were also mem- <br /> 32. hers of his Committee. He also noted that the length of the sign <br /> 33. up was to discourage someone from just investing in a "holding <br /> 34. pattern. " It will not discourage the serious farmer; he noted also <br /> 35. there was a payback clause for only partial participation in the pro- <br /> 36. gram. <br /> 37• Planning Board member Irvin: Said the time of participation had <br /> 38. been discussed at length. He said as many farmers as possible should <br /> 39. <br /> 40. <br />