Posted on 11/10/2010 6:26:11 AM PST by Red Badger
It would be more accurately described as a land lease by the government to landowners, whether they be farmers or not. The programs put the land into conservation or some other limited use for periods of 10-30 years, at a set price per acre. The lands continue to be used for hunting and other recreation.
What the article does not state, and in most instances is the case, that for every acre that is put into CRP, there is a like amount of land coming out of CRP, WRP and other programs to become farm land again.
We have some property that borders ours that has been into and out of conservation programs 3 times in the past 50-some-odd years. It is in many cases, a longer term form of crop rotation, since the trees are harvested for wood and paper purposes. It is good for the land, wildlife and the environment in general.
I am not a big proponent of government dollars being used in these programs, but they are largely misunderstood by folks as being some sort of farm subsidy. Putting it under the Department of Agriculture only reinforces this misunderstanding. It is really aggravating to have this misconception repeated over and over again.
Do you think those democrat neighbors will share their food
with you if push comes to shove?
An agricultural subsidy is a governmental subsidy paid to farmers and agribusinesses to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, “and influence the cost and supply of such commodities.”
read the last line....
Yes, they are good hearted people, just dumb as dirt.
My experience is that very few people who have not farmed on their own know little about farm production and what it takes to put food on the table.
The work is hard, the stress is worse, the thanks are non-existent, the risks are through the roof. If prices are low and food is abundant people are happy and they don’t care that farmers are going broke or they believe the government is giving them millions.
When prices are high because crops are in short supply people think farmers are getting rich off of them when in reality most farmers are hurting because their yields are down.
This is the reason that the average age of farmers is 57. Most farmers don’t encourage their children to farm, they want better for their children and they know that the only way out of farming is bankruptcy or death.
I think it has gotten worse in the last 20 years, I think the CBOT has very little to do with production and everything to do with speculation. Once upon a time you could market your crops by following reality but now it just seems to be on the whims of traders.
OMG! YOu are so right. The new cotton pickers cost half a million! We farm with 40 and 50 year old tractors that we bought used, I can’t even imagine buying something new. I know there has to be farmers out there who can afford them but I just don’t happen to know them.
Bought new, a tractor, grain drill (especially no-till) seed hopper, combine, trucks and grain bins easily add up to a million dollars--and the area farmed is usually measured in 'sections' (a square mile, more or less, roughly 640 acres).
LOL--Trust him to do what? Shovel crap, or expand your farm?
Can you believe it? That's why everyone has a seat at the CBOT. Except for the guy with poop on his boots, who can't choose a winner.
In the area I grew up in at least 30% of the farmland is unused at any given time. Not from normal crop rotation but just unused.
If corn and grain priced get up there trust me the farmers will start using that land again.
When corn per bushel went from $2 to $6 several years back, dust webs were blown off the equipment and much of that land immediately went back into production...and my Dad's neighbor still had 2 silos of corn he could not sell because the price dropped. (I think he has since sold it because the price has gone back up)
I'm not worried.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.