IM not a snob,but it stinks!!!

[escavader]

I was raised beside a dairy farm.I worked on dairy farms,even worked withand tended steers when i was younger.I built my home next to the very same farm,they were excellant neighbors.Each spring they would spread the manure on the feilds next to us,i suppose yes it was smelly,but its part of living next to a farm.They were there before us,and us neighbors didnt mind.Kind of got use to it.Well last year the farmer retired,it was the last dairy farm in our town,hated to see him go.He built a new home way up the street,and subdivided all his land into houselots.That was his retirement,and im glad for him,and am looking forward to new neighbors.
He sold the farm and barn and 20 or so acres up there,to a retired couple who were gonna have a few animals,once again great.He has not sold any houselots yet,and has agreed to let the new people cut the hay on the remaining unsold land.so far so good right?
7 loads of green chicken manure have been dumped by his barn,and he intends to spread at the end of march.Im 1/8 mile away and the smell is so bad the inside of my new car wreeks of it,and i keep it in the garage!The smell brings tears to your eyes when the wind is right,and he aint even spread it be side the house yet.The area is mostly residential,with lots of new homes,and the neighbors,who like myself were understanding to the dairy farm,are really p.o. about this.I know we could buy the land...etc etc,boy the neighborhood is really boiling!The retired airline pilot..wantta be farmer,isnt making many friends here.
Im sorry if i offend any poutry farmers,but it relly stinks,ill probably have to move out in March.If you can smell it in my car in the garage,whats it gonna smell like when it gets laid beside my house.Small town,no ordanances. This is one farmer whom id like to see lose his shirt.Sorry if i offend any one,I had to get this off my chest.
ALAN

 

[JD3520]

How about any county or state codes. In Texas we have several offense codes that would apply and your state should also. Since the chicken feces was hauled in there (as opposed to a by-product of an ongoing farm operation) it is possible there are state violations or EPA violations that could apply. Also check your health and safety code for your state.

Have you contacted your local policing agency? What did they say? No officer can be up on all laws so an officer may not have known of some obscure law that was violated. Try your district attorney. Search for laws that might help you.


They can also be sued civilly for damage/depreciation on your car.

I am a firm believer in senority. Had the dairy farm smell been offensive and you complained I would have said too bad because the farm and its smell was there first. Now the shoe is on the other foot. You were there before the chicken feces smell and you should have the right to NOT SMELL that crap.

chuck

 

[WhyNot]

Here in N.J. chicken manure has to be tilled in the same day it is spread or it must be injected. One of the neighboring dairy's haul's in chicken manure every year because the chicken farm's pay you to take it and it is good fertilizer. Well he never used to play buy the rules until some of the neighboring farm's tuned him in and ever since he till's it in. By the way I work on a dairy and don't blame you one bit for complaining. Wanting to go out side and enjoying yourself is not being snoby.

 

[JerryG]

Normally spread litter, if spread properly will lose its smell with in two days. What he did wrong was to dump it out in the open. If he didn't have a shed to accommodate it, he should have put a tarp over it. Then you and the other neighbors wouldn't have had a problem with it

 

[cowboydoc]

Have you gone over to mee the guy and let him know how bad the smell is? Maybe offer a compromise or like Jerry said it could be as simple as putting a tarp over it. I often find the problems most of these kinds of problems are due to poor communication.

 

[BillyP]

Jerry, isn't it a violation to store litter like that. I know it is in Oklahoma. If it's stored it has to be stored in a litter shed, until spread. We used to be able to tarp it but can't do that any longer.

 

[JerryG]

From what I have seen, you can still tarp, but it isn't that simple. I wish it were. Several other things have to be taken into account, such as run off, soil type etc. I didn't want to say anything about the regulations, we have so many and they are just getting worse. One of these days everyone is going to starve to death because farmers can’t raise crops. But we will die healthy. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Jstpssng]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( But we will die healthy )</font>

I don't know about that, either. For instance the apple industry has already been hurt by Chinese imports... there's no telling WHAT they use for chemicals.

It's sad that the more essential things are for life the less we're willing to pay for it. So the farmer who busts his butt all his life has no choice but to subdivide and sell if he wants to retire comfortably. Some of the best dairyland here in Maine is under the WalMart and mall parking lots /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[JerryG]

<font color="blue"> WHAT they use for chemicals.</font>
I have read some papers about what they use in China. Some are products that have been banned here for 20-40 years. The American farmer gets very little for what he produces and it is only getting worse. Before long, the Chinese will more than likely be raising all of our food just like they are producing so many of our other items.

 

[JJT]

I'm not a fan of zoning, but it does protect you from bad neighbors. If everyone was considerate, we'd have no use for land use regulations/zoning.

Here's what I would do in your situation - First try to resolve this on your own, talk to the neighbor and let him know your issues/concerns. If that is unproductive, file a formal complaint with your town supervisor/board. I'd also send a copy of the formal complaint to the offending party. Make sure you reference your prior attempt to get this resolved in a friendly/neighborly manner. All formal complaints must be investigated. I'd then show up at the next town board meeting and ask for an update. Be firm but polite, this will be resolved.

It might be time to get some formal rules on the books. It took several tries to get a comprehensive plan and zoning in place in our small town. We had several close calls, a proposed landfill, sewage injection and a low level radiation dump. 10 years ago if you mentioned the Z word you'd stir folks up in a hurry. This time around we had 4 info sessions and a public hearing, zoning was embraced. We adopted it last Monday.

Feel free to PM me if you want details. I'm the chairman of our planning board and a member of our zba and a member of the county planning board.