"Agriculture: Push To Protect Prairies Hits Headwinds On Great Plains"

"ATWOOD, Kan. — Kevin Holle's farm field is crowded with dried cornstalks that crackle in the breeze and ground that's dusty despite recent rain.

Three years ago, this tract was one of the Earth's most endangered ecosystems: native prairie. Then Holle plowed it to plant wheat, drawn by high commodity prices and reassured by a quirk in the federal crop insurance program that allows farmers to plant on soil that's not ideal for crops while letting taxpayers bear much of the risk.

Now Holle's field is an exhibit in a debate over the future of the prairie — and of the public's role in supporting agriculture on it — that's likely to play out on Capitol Hill as Congress prepares the 2018 farm bill."

Marc Heller reports for Greenwire November 29, 2017.