His hand shoved the gear stick into park. This was the part of farming that he despised more than any other. Staring at the sign on the door that said “United States Department of Agriculture”, he exhaled a deep breath, opened his truck door and walked into the local Farm Service Agency.

He was greeted by his favorite Program Technician, Shandy. She always had a smile- as long as she was in a good mood. He preferred turning around and walking out the door if she wasn’t. The other ladies in the office were ok but he knew Shandy would help him wade through the government red tape of subsidy regulations required for Farmers. Thankfully Shandy waved him on back and he briskly walked to her desk. Sitting down, he placed his notebook with his planting dates on her desk. His stomach curled as if he were awaiting a root canal to begin. Shandy looked up and smiled and he began to relax. He had many questions about the upcoming New Farm Bill and he knew she would explain them so he could understand them. Why they had to make all this so complicated was beyond his comprehension but it was just part of farm life.

Shandy got up to get his farm folders; all 43 of them. There was a folder for each of the farms that he cropped. He sat back in his chair. He was going to be here for a while. As he settled into the office atmosphere some of the other Program Technicians greeted him and briefly chatted with him then went back to their own work. He looked around the office. Stacks of folders of different colors were piled high in several areas of the office. How they kept up with all this just amazed him.

“Want to start with Farm 2544? That’s Mr. Cotham’s farm right?” she asked as she opened the farm folder and took out a set of maps. The black and white aerial photographs had the farm boundaries outlined and the amount of acres was written on each field. Luke nodded as he took the map and attempted to focus on exactly where he was on the map. He’d spent hours, no, days on that farm and yet it took him a little bit to figure out the map. Looking at it from a “bird’s eye view” was not the view he was used to. Finally it began to make sense and he pointed to the fields he’d planted in corn, soybeans, grain sorghum and what he had in pasture and hay. He always forgot to give her the plant date and would have to go back and look it up. He was glad he remembered his notebook. He’d forgotten it in times past and had to travel the 18 miles back home to retrieve it then return to report his crops.