More often than not, farmers are excellent stewards of the land; many will call themselves the "original conservationists". Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack recently said American farmers could play an even bigger role in improving the overall health of the environment, but there's a major road block for them.

"We have 45 different practices that we know will have a positive impact on soil health, have a positive impact on water quality, will have a positive impact on carbon sequestration. Farmers are anxious to do it. [However] they're not making enough money, most of them, to do that."

Vilsack recently told lawmakers just under 90% of U.S. farmers don't derive even half of their income from the farm, meaning off the farm jobs. So, to help boost conservation efforts, the USDA head recommends, "lets create markets that reward them for doing this, and pay them for doing this, and create in essence a new revenue stream for them."

Which Vilsack said may make these farms more profitable. And when more farmers are profitable, Vilsack says more farmers stay in the business and the food supply system becomes even more stable.

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