On October 23, 2011, the Omaha World-Herald reported:
“Republican U.S. Senate candidate Deb Fischer and her husband, Bruce, are among a handful of Nebraska ranchers whose cattle graze on federal land at prices some say amounts to a significant federal giveaway.
Fischer, a state senator from Valentine, is running as a fiscal conservative who wants to reduce the size of the federal government. She argues she will make the “tough choices” in Congress to cut the nation’s budget.
As a rancher, Fischer has benefited from a federal program that environmentalists and others describe as an expensive subsidy that needs to be trimmed or eliminated.
The Fischers lease 11,724 acres of federal land in north-central Nebraska for about $4,700 for seven months — paying about $110,000 less than the market rate for private land in Cherry County.
Fischer defended the federal grazing program, saying ranchers help the government manage federal land. She also said the family follows all federal regulations and doesn’t have a say in how much it is charged.”
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Published: Oct 24, 2011