Given this year’s spike in corn and soybean prices, commodity crop producers may be tempted to break ground on land not previously used for cash crop production. Before doing so, however, producers need to make sure they are following conservation compliance regulations to ensure important federal benefits are not at risk.

The 1985 farm bill set forth provisions to protect highly erodible lands. Commonly referred to as sodbuster provisions, these rules require producers to have an HEL determination made on ground planted to an annually tilled crop. If the land is determined highly erodibl...