Fontanelle, IA | JD8345 - 6/27/2026 10:57
I rented a retired farmers land and one of the tracts had a woods cleared 15 years ago or so. He wasn’t in the any fsa programs and simply cleared the woods and tiled the farm. Now when I went to certify my crops I’m in violation as the farm has about 18 acres of wetland spots that I’m now supposed to leave and not harvest. What is my options going forward or best way to proceed. I told them I don’t want that farm certified as I’m not at risk of having to pay anything back at moment, but the lady told me that will catch up to me eventually. At this point I would be ok with not having that farm enrolled in the program but it sounds like it doesn’t work that way. The landowner is not going to be happy about me not planting 18 acres out of the 150 acre field and will expect rent on it all but I’m not sure what my options really are. Looking for any suggestions
Any wetland infraction that puts any acre out of compliance puts your WHOLE operation out of compliance making you ineligible for disaster payments, ad-hoc market facilitation payments, FSA loans, federal crop insurance premium subsidies, everything……. That also backwardates to your other rented farms /other landlords so this “new” landlords swampbuster activity potentially puts all the other landlords acres out of compliance too - frigging up their CRP payments etc.
Your landlord is wrong. He is putting your entire operation at risk. He will be required to mitigate the wetlands he frigged up without consent. Him not getting rent on 18 acres is the least of your worries. I don’t know how you wrote your lease but it might have something about conservation compliance. My landlords stipulate in the lease that my farming practices keep their farms in compliance with the govt.
Your “new” landlord is going to have to farm the farm -himself . No cropshare. You can only be his hired contract custom farmer.
|
Wetland Violation on a newly rented farm from previous owner. What to do next?
