A Farmer's Worst Enemy?

[RollingsFarms]

i'm fortunate enough that the 750 acres i farm borders up to a state forest so there is no way a subdivision will ever be built to run me off. now ive been asked to sell plenty of times, i just give them some ludicrous price to hopefully scare them off for good(ie. a real estate company offered me $90 an acre. yeah i thought it was stupid too. anyways, i countered back with $1,000,000 per acre....AFTER taxes. he hungup.).

 

[shvl73]

In New York we have a right to farm law. If people move into a farming area and later bi#^h about smells and noise, they are out of luck.

That seems sensible.

 

[shvl73]

I only see one occasional woodchuck. I think the coyotes are keeping them in check.

 

[AllWaysBreakinSomething]

"i countered back with $1,000,000 per acre"

I love that. My way of life is priceless.
I feel the same way about my place. I just wish I had more land so I use coorporate america to finance growing my place. Kinda backwards but I can't make enough to grow otherwise.

I do feel in the near future what lies in our fields will be more valuable than a Ben Franklin!! I will always eat well as long as the sun shines and the rains come. This is my piece of mind in a world that is changing so fast that it is headed for the same mistakes that happened generations before.

Sorry for the floundering off topic.
I just noticed groundhogs around my place this year . I'll heed the words of wisdom and take them out . Again my neighbors think I'm postal when I get out the guns ..hahahahaha!!!!

 

[AllWaysBreakinSomething]

I forgot to mention. Racoons are our biggest problem. They constantly strip the corn. Without my labs they would really hurt the crop. Although on hot days the labs get lazy. Local coon hunters keep traps around when they can which helps drastically.

 

[Kendall69]

I saw some guys on TV, pump in propane into the holes and then ignite them and watch the whole tunnel explode rodents and all.
Look like sport actually.

 

[WayneB]

That seems sensible.

Farming in a major portion of New York is big business. Unfortunately in New Hampshire it is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Now we are into turning open spaces into cluster housing and putting the wetlands into open spaces to retain the natural look of the area.

Nothing like a bunch of condos in a small country town to turn it into a natural space!

SHVL73 right in your backyard down 13 south there will be a 28 unit (7 buildings) condo development and the 80 plus unit down the road from that. Look out here come our new school tax bills!

 

[Scrounger]

I love shooting hogs, but its harder and harder to find a place to shoot them. Are you in eastern PA? I have a whole gun club that will show up. FREE. We just need permission to shoot. If only PA would allow me to use my Bushmaster to end the life of the little groundhog.

I live in a development that has a hog problem, I have dispatched about a dozen this year so far with a .22 pistol with a nifty little silencer on it. A Ruger 22/45.

 

[Oleozz]

No, I'm in central Pa. about 130 miles from Bethlehem.
After reading all these threads in seems like farmers have more enemies than just a groundhog.

 

[john_bud]

I'd say a fair amount, but I think the farmers worst enemy is the developer who chops up farms into 5 acre farmettes filled with people who put a net economic drain on the local economy and eventually drive the farmer off the land to make more room for more subdivisions.

I don't know how it is in Funk OH, but here there is a farmer I know with 900 acres and his tax bill was $27,000. A house on 5 acres around here is assessed at around $275,000 and has a tax bill of around $3800. Let's see, 27,000/900 is $30 and acre. $3800/5 is $760 an acre. Who's draining the economy?


The answer to that question is -- the government.

jb