My own personal environmental policies revolve around my desire to not only lower my personal footprint, but also help in any way possible to mitigate environmental issues on a personal level. Due to personal economic restraints, I have limitations on the scale of action. Our farm has several hundred acres of land currently in the Conservation Reserve Program, which is incentivized by the government to allow our land to heal as it has been cultivated for so many years. This time frame- typically between 10-20 years means that some income will be coming in yearly for doing this as long as the land owner plants a specific number of species on that land per acre and leaves it uncultvated for the agreed upon time frame. I personally have chosen to increase biodiversity and plant additional native species above what is required for this CRP land to help increase native species and their habitat, as well as to increase native pollinators in my area-without additional financial gain. I feel that there should be a higher standard for the CRP program as far as the basic requirements. I would probably be able to afford to do more if there were levels of incentivization for higher amounts of planting diversfied native species.

Another environmental goal I have had for many years is to generate our own renewable energy, instead of purchasing. Over the past 8 years we have met that goal and have 3 wind turbines positioned on acreage that is perfect for the high winds we experience daily upon the bluff the farm sits on. We generate more electricity than we use, so we are able to sell energy to the county and have created a buy back agreement if needed at the same cost we sold it at. There are improvements to batteries for energy storage, but I have been researching more into renewable energy grids and would like to transition into improved energy storage solutions in the near future.  There are so many legalities involved in generating your own electricity, and the cost is very high. Before our family invested in wind turbines, I remember my greatest goals were a solar powered water heater and replacing all of the windows in our farmhouse. Selling excess renewable energy ensures that the farm is always making a profit, even during the non-growing season or if yields or prices keep a profit from being possible.