A key soil and water conservation provision in the Farm Bill passed in June by the U.S. Senate is not in the House version of the legislation released in draft form last week. The provision would require farmers to meet minimum conservation standards to qualify for subsidized crop insurance. Making conservation compliance a condition for crop insurance is especially important this year because Congress is abandoning direct crop subsidies, which currently have conservation demands. Read about the issue and find links to more information in the Freshwater blog.