Dry lab fraud alleged
Have you taken soil samples and tested soils to determine the level of plant available nutrients in the soil?
Question No. 1, page 12, Self-Assessment Workbook (pdf)
Most soil lab procedures involve wet chemistry. Dry lab results, in the vernacular, are made-up results, place-holders if you will. Sometimes they serve a legitimate purpose. Dry labbing with the intent to deceive for monetary gain is fraud. This is apparently what USDA-NRCS is accusing 15 unnamed eastern Washington farmers of when they self-qualified for monetary awards under the Conservation Security Program. CSP participants in the top tier receive up to $45,000 per year for a 10 year period for the most environmentally conscious farms. Reading both the linked Seattle P-I article and the original Spokesman-Review article, (subscription required) it looks like a few farmers fabricated a history of soil sampling and lab analysis in order to qualify. The good news is that 131 farmers audited came up clean.
For other CSP news, see also:
Capital Press article (subscription required): “CSP losing momentum”
Delta Farm Press article: “USDA announces cut in CSP watersheds in 2006”
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