WHEN THE USDA SAYS AN AREA ON YOUR FARM IS A WETLAND, BUT YOU DISAGREE
Appealing USDA Wetland Decisions In past articles, we discussed USDA’s “ Swampbuster ” and the relief that can be granted to a farmer that commits a wetland violation. This article will discuss when a farmer receives an unfavorable wetland determination (i.e. NRCS declares an area a wetland and the farmer disagrees) and the appeal rights that are available to the farmer to dispute the wetland determination. Many times, Swampbuster violations start with a farmer clearing and/or tiling an area that has not been historically farmed and does not have a classification with the NRCS. In these instances, NRCS starts with a Preliminary Technical Determination . (PTD) This consists of the NRCS performing an analysis as to whether the site meets the criteria to be labeled a wetl...