I'll rise to the bait so I don't disappoint anybody. Well the premise here assumes there is no value to the hedgerow or the fenceline. Possible benefits include soil conservation, also really have to consider the asthetic value as well. Now I realize you scoff at the asthetic value, but if asthetics have no value, then why buy a corvette when a Kia econobox will provide transportation, and save you a bundle in the bargain. You would also need to figure the expense of root-hogging out that fenceline, or hedge, and see how long it takes you to recover that cost. Maybe the government will cost share the improvement. Pay one guy to rip it out, down the road cost sharing the planting of a shelterbelt for conservation! We already have the model with wetlands. Spent the 70's tearing them up, the new century restoring them. In both cases wouldn't it have been simpler to just preserve them in the first place. My final thought is nobody lives on an island, I believe that everyone should have the right to do whatever they want to do, as long as it does not infringe upon or threaten the quality of life of all the rest of us. We may well see another dust bowl, history has a way of repeating itself. If it happens, or maybe when it happens, just like the last time it will be encumbant upon the US taxpayers, to fund a fight to recover from a manmade, (farmer made), natural disaster. Last time we had catastrophic health issues, dramatic population shifts which the plains have yet to recover from, forced to commission an army of workers to achieve land restoration, all so some small percentage of individual Americans could milk a few extra dollars out of the land, that the land didn't have to give. All these lessons are forgotten, or passed off as ancient history, we are far to smart for that to happen again, really? As a guy who analyzes farm financial statements daily, I can assure you that 3000, pretax income will not make or break the bottom line of any farm operation. I would challenge your math as well, you assume 5.50 corn, historically using the last 10 year average it would be closer to $2.25. It will be again, how does that math figure in your equation? As an aside, I have quail living and eating with my pastured cattle and horses now, and can't remember a time when we did not. Reprocessing pass through grain, and bare spots around drinkers and loafing areas are the draw, but I also think they like the overhead cover and herd early alert warning system, and relative safety of being in the vicinity of the big animals.