The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was originally created in the 1985 Food Security Act to "assist owners and operators of highly erodible cropland in conserving and improving the soil and water resources of their farms or ranches."

As editor and principal author of Iowa Ag Review, let me welcome you and introduce you to our new publication and what we hope to accomplish. Iowa Ag Review is a quarterly publication for farmers, agribusinesses, legislators, and other persons interested in Iowa agriculture.

The USDA reported in the September issue of Hogs and Pigs that, for the third consecutive quarter, hog inventories throughout the United States were above previous year levels with the largest inventories existing since 1980.

What is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? The GATT may be best described as an ongoing process through which trade distortions among countries are defined and targeted for reduction. There have been seven previous GATT agreements over the years. The recent GATT agreement represents the eighth round of trade negotiations and is often called the Uruguay Round in reference to Punta del Este, Uruguay, where the agenda was set in 1986.

The USDA preliminary estimates for 1994/1995 world soybean production are currently set at 127.75 mmt, or about 10 percent above the 1993/94 level. This increase is due primarily to a bumper crop in the United States, estimated as of August to be 62.12 mmt for the 1994/1995 crop year, which is a 26 percent increase over the 1993/1994 crop.