In 1985, the U.S. congress passed measures that linked federal
subsidies for farmers to erosion control.  Farmers must meet certain
erosion control standards in order to be eligible for subsidies. 
Meeting these standards involves working with the USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service)
and implementing conservation practices as needed.  Has the linkage of
erosion control with federal subsidies (in 1985) increased the success
of federal efforts to combat erosion?  Previously federal efforts were
based on incentives and voluntary compliance.  I am looking for any
articles or publications that address this issue.

CRS Issue Brief for Congress
The Farm Bill: Soil and Water Conservation Issues
Jeffrey A. Zinn
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division

The farm bill's effect on Iowa's landscape
http://www.inhf.org/farmbillmap.htm

http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/FarmPolicy/sectwide.htm
Scroll down to links to these papers:

Conservation and environmental quality
Agri-Environmental Payments: Rewarding Farmers for Environmental
Performance (May 2001) evaluates the impacts of initiating a program
to provide payments to producers to help maintain past
agri-environmental gains, to address emerging environmental problems
(e.g., nutrient runoff), and perhaps to support farm income.

Agri-Environmental Policy at the Crossroads: Guideposts on a Changing
Landscape (January 2001) identifies the types of available policy
tools and the design features that have enhanced the effectiveness of
current programs. One policy tool that may be an important component
of a future policy package is an agri- environmental payments program.

USDA Conservation Programs: A Look at the Record (September 2001)
 observes the near tripling of government spending on agricultural
conservation programs since the mid-1980s, a response to public demand
that farm programs offset some of agriculture's environmental impacts.
The greatest portion of spending has supported land retirement through
the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Recent USDA studies examine
the CRP and other major conservation programs of the past 15 years and
point to significant benefits from soil conservation and wildlife
habitat restoration.

EQIP: Conserving While Farming (September 2001)
 provides an overview of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP). The program provides technical, financial, and educational
assistance to farmers who improve soil, land, water, and nutrient
management. Applications to participate in the program have exceeded
annual funding, but some participants have opted to cancel out
entirely or withdraw some of the practices specified in their
contracts. This could have implications for program design and
funding.

Conservation and environmental policy briefing room 
summarizes ERS's research program on the efficiency, effectiveness,
and equity of policies and programs directed toward improving the
environmental performance of the agricultural sector. In recent years,
the scope of problems addressed in resource policy has expanded to
encompass onsite and offsite problems with soil erosion, impacts of
nutrients and pesticides on surface- and groundwater quality, and
conservation of wetlands and other important wildlife habitat. Income
and price support programs, while a declining focus of agricultural
policy, are still an important influence on producers' environmental
performance.

USDA
Agri-Environmental Policy at the Crossroads: Guideposts on a Changing
Landscape
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer794/


AGRICULTURE SUBSIDIES 
 article is excerpted from West's Encyclopedia of American Law.
http://www.wld.com/conbus/weal/wagricsb.htm

http://www.crrs.net/story40.htm
Farm payments debated and awaited
By Nancy L. Torner
Center for Rural and Regional Studies
(Part of a series on farm subsidies)


Agriculture and the Environment:
The Mixed Legacy of Federal Intervention
By John K. Hosemann
http://www.perc.org/publications/essay/hosemann.html

Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
The University of Maryland, College Park
Adoption of Soil Conservation Practices:
A Revealed Preference Approach
by Erik Lichtenberg
://www.google.com/
search?q=cache:vaa5sg6r850C:www.arec.umd.edu/publications/papers/Working-PapersPDFfiles/0112.pdf+%22soil+conservation%22+federal+policy+subsidies+impact&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8

PBS
New Deal Remedies
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/sfeature/newdeal.html

Deal Breaker
How H.R. 2542 Ends Conservation Rules in Farm Subsidy Programs
http://www.ewg.org/reports/Deal_Breaker/Dealbreaker.html

Farm Bill: LSP makes a difference at the national level
By Mark Schultz, LSP Policy Program Director
May 10, 2002
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/opinions/02/opinion_020510.html

Search strategy: "soil conservation" federal policy subsidies