One common thread here in all these posts,and i assure you I am not trying to step on anyones toes,is there seems to be a huge resentment against fellows who took the option to make more/most money on THIER own land.I dont farm anymore,though i did for 60 years, other than to plant a few food plots for the kids. But let me assure you,if 1/10 of what you guys say is actually happening,such as folks recieving crp money for land they(or NO ONE ELSE) has farmed for the last few years,then I agree its wrong.BUT No where in the program does it say you personally have to farm it,only that you be the legal owner and its been farmed, and you have the records of such. As for highly erodable land, wind erosion takes more land in the US than ANYTHING else,and dead flat level farm ground is more susceptable than anywhere else. The very makeup of the soil might be the factor in wheather land is erodable or not. And farms in areas where full tillage is still the norm its a huge problem! As for the absentee owner deal,how many of our children really either want to farm,or live close enough to profitably farm a place? closest of Mine lives a hundred and twenty miles from the NEAREST farm,( and theres some he's never even seen),has a wife ,three daughters,a home etc. Is it really reasonable to think he would move his family,give up two careers,move to a farm with no house or any amenities whatsoever? OR would it be more reasonable for me to leave him and my daughter these places,to rent,sell, move to,or put in crp as thier lives dictate. Maybe I should simply sell it all to some young person who more than likely couldnt make it pay and would lose it to the bank? BE honest,and really think about it,and decide which of your neighbors you would want to farm your land. Do you really want him/her doing all those things that annoyed you all those years,on YOUR place? If he did get in a finacial bind,whos land would be the first to suffer, yours or his??? these and a thousand more questions are what folks my age,and many others here,face every day. In the end the only REAL thing you own is that land. That same land you cussed as worthless,those rocks that you turned up every year,that tree limb that you always had to duck under and meant to cut for 60 years. But never did because it shaded a place for lunch when your new wife brought it to you ,or the kids had a swing there. All those things are the things that are real. That money in the bank,that promise of possible future rent from some young man that you cant even understand most the time,is just paper and words,that will disapear like smoke from a grass fire.Whats real is that land that you can touch ,feel and smell. That one thing that there never will be anymore of. That one solid piece of this idiotic world that has any real sense of place and time and substance is that land. So do you sell it? Do you rent it to a stranger? Or do you cover it with grass, put it to rest like a old close friend,do you lay it by for your future generations,hoping that maybe just one will touch it and feel it and breath it in? real deep so it becomes a part of them? Thats what a lot of old farmers are wondering now,the average age of the American farmer is over 70. Farms are being lost to developers, corporations,at a unprecidented rate in the US. On this board there are many young folks wanting to farm,but outside of here how many really are? Like I say I'm old and used up. But to all of the older guys like me,or non resident landowners i know, the decision to go with crp is more of a peace of mind issue than a monetary one. AND Just so you know,Ive never taken a dime of CRP money personaly,dont intend to,but lots of the land I own has been in crp one time or another,and ive BOUGHT the seed,and planted hundreds of acres of crp grass on my own over the years. I'll buy and plant more if I can get it and I live long enough.But if my son or daughter decides to go with that option I wont think ill of them. After all,even the most money hungry of us would agree that that land sitting unused,with no income is a liability,if it at least cant pay the taxes. If crp does that and keeps this land for their kids or grandkids,I'll back it as long as I'm able. BUT If it helps ,think of it this way,if that old farmer next door puts his place in crp,or one of the kids he left it to does. Its generally safe from developers and things. As long as the crp money pays the taxes it can set there unmolested. Start saving your money now,in 20 years or so the option will be up again. And if you pay cash after twenty years,your still better off than if you bought on a thirty year note with someone elses money. Of course you lose that sense of instant gratification,but you also probably would be in a better position to utilize it also.
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