We have received farm subsidies for much of the time we have owned and worked the farm, except when we rented the farm for many years when all payments went to the renter. Even with farm subsidies, the renter gave up our land because he only showed a profit one year out of a dozen. He wanted to put his energy into working the better land in the lower valley. The heavy soils of our farm required him to run in slower gears, burn more fuel and with the same fertilizer get much less yield than the higher quality soils he was farming. He put in a lot time, wore out his machinery, and couldn't show a profit, so he left. Also other successful farmers have rented land in upper Muddy Valley for a short time before pulling out for lack of profit. Nevertheless we decided to try farming again but decided not spend money on chemical fertilizer or herbicides which caused yields of less than half. The only place it worked was in our farmed wetlands that received annual deposits of fertilizer enriched sediments from the neighbor's farm upstream. These rich deposits produced yields better than we had ever gotten with high inputs and the farm subsidies provided enough payment to pay our property taxes, buy seed and fuel for next crop year. We certainly would have given up farming much sooner without subsidies and when we did stop it was for other reasons. USDA farm programs shifted to converting marginal erosive fields and riparian area to natural habitat. This was to reduce erosion and pollution and to reduce crop surpluses. Another change that took place was when our valley was blessed with a magnificent herd of elk that had a liking for our crops. This was a turning point for us, we needed explore other ways get some income from our land. We didn't want to divide the farm into eighty acre parcels and enjoyed working with natural habitat. Instead of dividing, we opted to put 115 acres into USDA Wetland Reserve Program which purchased a permanent habitat easement in perpetuity. This cleared our debts and made it possible to shift the farm into a reserve and carry on with the habitat work. Probably a financial advisor would have told us to divide and sell rather than try to continue. We enjoy living on and working the wildlife reserve but the need for ongoing management is continuous and will pass on to the next generation. With our very shallow cash pocket there are three important elements to keep going from day to day, the $5000 annual USDA farm subsidy, personal energy, and our old tractor not giving up. These all could be short term assets. For us and the next generation to continue on, we feel that the income from the farm must be increased with compatible businesses related to the rural scene. There are many opportunities to do this without degrading the resource lands or natural habitat of our farm, but most are not permitted under present land use laws by restrictive farm zoning limitations.