I hear or read all the time how good a job the Democrats do and the Republicans are not with it.

Well I disagree with this statement. I am a retired farmer and have some Conservation Reserve Program land I manage that I don’t rent out. It has been in the program for the last 15 years. Well this year it was to expire on this 15-year contract, so they wrote me and said I could maybe get it renewed if I would like to. So I visited with them and decided to sign up for another 15 years, which I did.

But then this is where I ran into a problem. The government told me to destroy the grass I have and reseed it to native flowers and grasses. I said it is already in grass and not eroding and also next to a drainage ditch.

I said that is not making sense with well-established grass to destroy and reseed. I said that would be expensive when not really needed; they said don’t worry the government will reimburse me around $100 per acre.

That is when I said this is a real problem. I and my neighbors and fellow Americans pay taxes and I am spending their money on something which doesn’t need fixing.

So I wrote a letter to Sen. Al Franken and Rep. Tim Walz back in March 26, asking their opinion on this spending of taxpayers’ money for something I felt didn’t need to be done because CRP is OK. I invite everyone to stop by my place. I would be glad to show my CRP ground, which is in my opinion meeting good conservation practice.

Now back to the politicians. I talked to state Rep. Rich Murray about this on a weekend and he told me he was going back to state on Monday and said he would see what jurisdiction the state has over CRP. Three days later he called and said I need to call or write my senator or congressman.

Well as I said earlier I wrote them in March and to this day no letter or phone call.

I feel these conservation programs are good for our nation, but we also need politicians who see and care they are run efficiently.

I guess spending money is OK for everyone but saving money is not important.

No wonder our nation’s debt keeps climbing

 

Melvin Hobbiebrunken

Albert Lea