Land Owner CR-Peeved

Sioux Falls veterinarian Mike McIntyre thought opening up CPR acres designated as wetlands was the perfect prescription to help ranchers like him battling drought. "I just thought 'halleluiah,' life is great, everything's coming around, life is good. Dad went into the local FSA office the next day, called me with the bad news and I was like, this can't be real," McIntyre said. It turns out, McIntyre will only be able to get hay from a small fraction of his CRP land north of Salem. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) says that's because much of the land serves as a narrow buffer to a wetland property that is not included in the latest government release. McIntyre says that leaves him only about 60 acres for haying, which is not nearly enough to feed his all livestock. "It breaks my heart knowing that I might have to sell some of my cattle or do anything to cut down on my herd, just because somebody in Washington, D.C. won't let me use the feed I have sitting at my place," McIntyre said...more

Well, it breaks my heart that you signed up to take taxpayer money to set aside your land in the first place. You made the decision, you took the money, now live with it.

McIntyre has been pleading his case to lawmakers and bureaucrats in Washington. He wants other farmers to know that when it comes to relying upon CRP land for drought relief, the devil is in the details.

No Dr. McIntyre, the devil is in the program itself. Quit "pleading" to DC and instead use all those degrees you've earned. Whether or not land is put into production is a decision to be made by the landowner and the market - not the gov't.