It is well written, but have to look at both sides here. I want, as much as anybody, more habitat to hunt. The problem is that Iowa land is good farm land. The author is from South Dakota where the land is not that fertile and would most likely not produce quality crops. They really have no option, but to have grass land with pasture for their cattle. Being a land owner in Iowa, we have done everything allowable within the current legislation to provide habitat to our farm. The reality is that there is some good crop producing land and it produces income. Being a hunter I would like to see our entire farm in CRP, but I am also realistic. Can you imagine how much tax money would have to be spent to return Iowa to a prarie state. I also can see the other side to! There are some farmers in our area, and my grandfather was one of them, who would farm the ditches if they could. This is the problem! There are not any 40 acre fields anymore with grow over fence rows. I think that we need a balance between now and then. I have listened to my dad's accounts of pheasant hunting in the 60's and 70's and him saying that they would flush flocks of 40-50 birds in our waterway. There were no big grass fields then, but there were smaller fields that were grown over. The should create an incentive program for farmers that limit the size of their fields. The farmers could get paid for decrease in field size and reimbursed for the cost of decreasing the field size. Just my thought.
PS- If FSA came to me tomorrow and said that 100% of our farm could be in CRP, it would be done this spring.
