Elephants in the closet part 1, The farm program

Heifers should finish calving in the next few days and our ag session is just over a week away. This means I will be wrapping this project up soon. Before I do I want to try to give my perspective on two of the biggest issues in the news about agriculture. One is ethanol, which I'll try to cover Wednesday. The other issue which I'll cover today is The Farm Program (Subsidies).

Today on the farm I went to the USDA Farm Service Center. This center houses two different government agencies. They are the NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) this agency is responsible the implementation and funding of projects relating to conservation, resource enhancement, and water quality improvement. The work this agency does protects our land and water. I believe we all benefit from the work of the NRCS.

The other agency is the FSA (Farm Service Agency) They are responsible for managing farm subsidy payment to farmers, ranchers, and land owners. They also administrate low interest beginning farmer loans (for the record I never got one). From my capitalist perspective I don't believe these programs have been good for agriculture in what is supposed to be a free market economy. The one aspect of the FSA that I believe is very good and once again benefits all of us is that so long as a producer is enrolled in the Farm Program the FSA is able to regulate that individuals farming practices to protect and preserve our soil and other natural resources. Of course the only leverage they have is to take away the farm payments, which puts my feelings in a catch 22.

The nations need to protect our land is one of the interesting aspects of my business. If someone owns a business in town and they neglect and abuse their property they will probably go out of business, but someone will be able to purchase the property and in a matter of months be able to improve it. Maybe even make it like new again. If a farmer uses poor conservation practices on his land and erodes the topsoil he will most likely go out of business as well. The difference is it will take 1,000 years to rebuild each inch of lost topsoil. This is why I believe in some regulation of how we farm. If you are a poor manager you don't just hurt yourself you hurt everyone.

The Farm Program came about because of the Dust Bowl. This man made phenomenon was probably the worst disaster in the History of our country. If you would like to learn more about the dust bowl and why the farm agencies were formed I would recommend this book: "The Worst Hard Time" By Timothy Egan

Here I am in the FSA office holding my USDA form ccc 927. Official government documentation that I'm a farmer.

The purpose for my visit was to line up funding for conservation work. I am building ponds this summer to control a ditch. This will stop sediment and help keep the water in our river clean. To do this I have agreed to take land out of production and pay 50% of the cost of building the pond. You the tax payer contribute the other 50%. I believe we all benefit from clean water and I support this kind of work. 

Regaurdless of my personal beliefs, as long as there is a farm program, the FSA side of the office is an agency I will have to deal with. My competition uses it so I use it. Otherwise I am at a disadvantage when competing for acres.

Here's one of the happy FSA employees.It's always important to remember that the people who work in these offices might not like some of the programs any better than you or I would. They do a very good job and are very helpful to me. Just because someone works for the government is no reason to treat them poorly. They have to work through the bueraucratic maze and then help all of us understand it. To get along try to learn their language (government acronyms), Be patient, rules change for them on a daily basis.  Be a student of the programs yourself, and send them chocolates on Valentines day.