Eleven months ago I wrote a very brief post about why you should care about the Farm Bill. Among other things, the Farm Bill pays farmers not to plow prairies and not to drain wetlands, therefore providing wildlife habitat for ducks and grassland species. This is particularly important because native prairie has all but disappeared.

Well, Congress is still at it. This week the Senate Ag Committee passed a version of the bill that would not reward farmers who plow up prairie with crop insurance. That resulted in a tiny sigh of relief from some.

Here’s Dall Hall, former director of US Fish and Wildlife, and now CEO of Ducks Unlimited discussing the issues in the Grand Forks Herald.

Here’s what Grist has to say about the bill that will not pass, but will not die.

And here’s an update from the New York Times blog on this week’s events.