Soybeans, corn displacing grasslands of northern plains and the repercussions are ominous

Map showing percent of existing grasslands that were con-
verted into corn or soybean fields between 2006 and 2011.

Christopher K. Wright/South Dakota State University

For another perspective on this, read
King Corn Mowed Down 2 Million Acres of Grassland in 5 Years Flat

Satellite pictures (left) dramatize the conversion of 1.3 million acres of grassland to corn and soybean production from 2006-2011.
     Conventional wisdom explaining this? Sky high commodity prices for the two aforementioned crops, and declining funding for the government's Conservation Reserve Program, which protects wildlife and water by paying farmers to keep land in grass.
     But more scrutiny is being given to government crop insurance subsidies which encourage farmers to plant in areas that don't drain well, where rainfall is spotty and in hillsides prone to erosion.
     Environmentalists don't like encouraging the destruction of grasslands. Economists say it's fiscally irresponsible.
     The shift is bad for wildlife, as corn and soybean fields increasingly encroach into habitats of bees and breeding waterfowl.
     The Praire Pothole region of Minnesota and the Dakotas is the most important breeding habitat for waterfowl in North America.
     Finally, there is the displacement of permanent grass on hillsides in favor of crops, which makes some of the most fertile soil in the world much more likely to wash into streams and ponds.