More than 100,000 acres of environmentally sensitive Minnesota farm land are likely to be removed this fall from the federal Conservation Reserve Program that pays farmers to idle land for 10 to 15 years. Land now planted in grass will be growing corn and soybeans next spring. The Minnesota reduction is part of a trend – driven by federal budget constraints and high commodity prices – that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Read about the change in the Freshwater Blog.