CRP Funding Changes

This article from the Trib (http://www.startribune.com/531/story/985364.html) reports that in Bush's upcoming budget no money is allocated for new land to be put in the Conservation Reserve Program. In the CRP, farmers are paid to leave acreage unfarmed as a conservation measure. It's been very effective... in SD, for example, every 4% increase in CRP land leads to a 22% increase in the pheasant population. The issue is rising corn demand. The increased drive for ethanol has pushed the price of corn ever higher, and made actual farming more economically desirable for farmers. That's where this environmental issue intersects with food policy concerns. What is the proper balance between conservation, growing grain for fuel, and growing grain for food? Myself, I'd tend to fall on the growing food or conservation side of things. But then again, we produce and use way more corn for food purposes than is really sustainable (see "The Omnivore's Dilemma"). A sticky wicket.