Development is bad for open space, but is it good for farmers?

Medill ^ | May 22, 2007 | Megan McCormack

[Lorianne]

The conversion of cornfields to subdivisions is a familiar phenomenon by now, as growth booms in ever-larger rings around Chicago. It means new housing for growing families, increased tax revenues for local government.

But what does it mean for farmers?

Will County is a good place to look for an answer. It is the second-fastest growing Illinois county, experiencing a 33 percent population increase from 2000 to 2006, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

So one might expect an outcry from the farming community over the loss of land.

"When I started at Will County I thought I was going to be the champion for the farming community and the first angry phone call I got was from a farmer, [who] basically didn’t want his farmland protected," said Ty Warner, principle for comprehensive regional planning and former planning director at the Will County Land Use Department.

Urban-edge farmers have had to learn to take development in stride. Some have even come to depend on it as their retirement plan.

"Traditionally, much of the equity of an individual land owner that is tied up in farming is tied up in their land," said Anita Zurbrugg assistant director at the American Farmland Trust's Center for the Environment. "When they are wanting to transition into retirement, they may have either limited options or no options to liquidate part of their land owning."

Between the pressure from developers and the hassle of dealing with urbanization, the loss of farmland in Will County is rapid.

"On the average we’re losing close to 3,000 acres a year to development," said Mark Schneidewind, manager of the Will County farm bureau.

"Just this year alone we’ve lost a couple of good farms because they're going to be developed,” said Will County farmer Jeff Haas. “So we’re getting squeezed in every different direction here.”

As more and more farmers sell their land those who remain face the possibility of losing the infastructure that makes their business viable. As veterinarians leave and supply stores close, the cost to keep up a farm is daunting compared with the money being offered by developers.

"There’s definitely a few farmers out here that don’t want to see the land developed, but the money has gotten so high that they can’t say no,” Will County farmer John Kiefner said. “My dad was traditionally one that generally said no, but he did end up selling three years ago because the money got so ridiculous.”

But it’s not just the money that makes a landowner sell. Farmers grow tired of dealing with the new hassles that come with an urban population suddenly living next door. The lack of knowledge about the farming community leads to several misunderstandings with their new neighbors.

“I used to get pretty irate over the general public's disregard for private property,” Kiefner said.

Dirt bikes and 4x4s that destroy crops, complaints about smells from livestock and chemicals and complaints about dust, noise, and farm equipment hogging the road start to take up valuable amounts of a farmers' time.

“They would have a major problem if a farmer took a tractor through their yard,” Schneidewind said.

Haas has a no-till field that became an ATV track in the early spring. Taking a motorcycle or four-wheeler over a spot 100 to 200 times makes the ground like concrete.

“Now I’m trying to plant a seed in it, which is kind of a lesson in futility,” Haas said.

But Zurbrugg wants farmers to know that farming doesn’t have to feel futile. There are other options if a community is willing to take a stand to protect their farmers and farmland.

"It really comes down to what a community wants,” Zurbrugg said. “If there aren’t enough people who are active and who feel strongly enough about it to create a mechanism to create farmland in their community, it will just continue to develop.”

American Farmland Trust and other conservation organizations believe the best way to save farmland is through programs that purchase development rights. A landowner can sell his or her right to develop their land, giving them much needed cash and ensuring that the land will never become a subdivision.

By selling development rights, the farmer gets cash in return for limiting what his land can be used for in the future. He, or his estate, can still sell the land, but only for agricultural use.

Kane County is the only county in Illinois that has a funded development rights program. Through the program 3,848 acres have been protected since it started in 2001.

“It gives those families that want to do this [farm] the opportunity to do this,” said Janice Hill, executive planner for Kane County and manager of the farmland protection program. “There are many, many farm families in this region that want to keep their land in agriculture production and they want to continue to farm.”

But Kane County has the benefit of funding from a riverboat casino, an option that Will County doesn’t have. Even if Will County can find funding for a development rights program, Schneidewind says there are still too many unanswered questions about the long-term results of the program.

"The concern that our organization has here with the Will County Farm Bureau [is] once you do that [sell development right], do you give up your property rights as an individual?" Schneidewind said, questioning the impact of government intervention. "It’s not that we don’t want to preserve farmland, we just don’t think that it’s the right step."

Some farmers like Kiefner have found it best to simply adapt to their new situation. Kiefner has started another business to supplement his income from farming.

“The farm I grew up on is now a landfill,” Kiefner said. “Another farm that I farmed for years is a subdivision.”

“Honestly, I’d love to farm somewhere else; it’s just aggravating,” Haas said. “I’d rather be out in the middle of farm country instead of next to houses. Trying to get down the road is difficult; trying to farm alongside subdivisions is difficult."

[SteveMcKing]

I knew an old farmer who railed against development. When he retired, he sold his land for McMansions. Not sure how he rationalized that one.

I actually favor zero growth for the suburbs. You city folks can grow like cancer, just don’t come ‘round here!

[Dasaji]

I know a bunch of farmers who were looking at the township “rezoning” their retirements to Clean & Green so city folk could drive through and see a deer or a ground hog.

These farms are retirement nest eggs for many farmers...what they do with them is their business and not the business of Agenda 21 BusyBodies.

When the farmers protested about their land being made virtually useless, officials called them a “bunch of dumb farmers” who didn’t have enough “intelligence” to know what was good for the betterment of a bass-akwards community to begin with.

The farmers won, btw. And their properties are all worth millions.