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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] A Farmer's Opinion on NRCS and why its a poor program...
  • Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 17:02:55 -0400

The "official" purpose I was told by my Ohio NRCS guys is that the program was supposed to compare soil quality before and after hoops with the purpose of controlling erosion.  Its NRCS that is controlling the money after all.  It should have been done through EQIP I think.

While I know this program has helped many to attain hoop houses I think its a perfect example of a crappy program.  We applied for it.  We did not get it.  We were already in the pipeline, paperwork-wise for FSA money so that hoop was simple.  We were asked for soil samples, and we gave them several and said we could do more testing if requested to get an instant snapshot (they simply asked for previous years).  We had sales figures and data showing our specialty crop and we knew the exact size we needed and were willing to use a third party contractor to supply and install the hoop house.

We never got it claiming that our county was too "urban" or simply that we had not acquire enough "points" to qualify.  Meanwhile several farms on the east side of Cincinnati did qualify.  

This means that the Feds are now favoring my competition over my farm.

As much as I loath commodity crop FSA money at least its fair: "You grow crop X, Y, and Z and you get money in return regardless of how many acres or what type of farm you are."

Either all farms get money to get hoop houses or now one does...or make it EXTREMELY common sense and transparent to qualify.

Meanwhile my fellow farmers in KY are not getting ANY of the money for hoop houses...or so I have been told.

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106




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