Of fish, food, and farming foolishness

Shortly before we began writing this post, the outside temperature was a little more than 20℉ and the windchill made it feel like 13℉, even in today's bright sunshine. Walking the dog at mid-day was NOT a pleasure. Better days, or at least better weather, lie just ahead, we hope. We're looking forward to doing some gardening and fly-fishing. Recently, we've been gaining some insights into how closely water quality and food production have become linked.

A recent article in modern farmer, notes "About 54 percent of American cropland is rented, according to the USDA, and those renters are in a very precarious situation."

Investors in farmland often have different perspectives on the need for, and desirability of, conservation measures than farmer owner-operators. As described in Barriers For Farmers & Ranchers To Adopt Regenerative Ag Practices In The US

Changing the mindset of NFLOs [Non-Farming Land Owners] and empowering them to make changes with their tenants and land managers is a complex and challenging process. Recent research by American Farmland Trust reveals that if farmers and landowners start talking and are provided with the right resources, NFLOs are willing to support the implementation of conservation practices on rented lands.

 If you follow the lack of conservation practices across the land and downstream, you often find a multitude of instances of the kinds of problems Trout Unlimited and conservation partners have been working on for a number of years in the Driftless Area of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. It may seem like a radical idea, but since hunters and anglers have, for years and years, been supporting wildlife conservation through excise taxes on their equipment, perhaps it's time to consider a comparable tax on farming equipment, farmland owned by investors, or even commodity crops such as corn and soy beans. Take a look at reports about the environmental damage being inflicted by farming practices on the preponderance of acres and see if a tax to encourage conservation practices doesn't seem wise and needed.

Testament of a Fisherman ~ Robert Traver

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