Iowa farmers say they are losing land to Conservation Reserve
Some young and beginning farmers say they have lost access to cropland because the owners could get a higher rental rate from USDA's Conservation Reserve than they could by renting it, said Iowa Sens Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The senators said they have heard complaints from Iowans over the past few months about USDA's operation of the reserve, which pays landowners an annual rent to idle farmland for 10 years or longer.