[AT] On losing farm land

[Rob Gray]

I sure hope the county knows what it is getting into if it is allowing 
off-roader types to leases the land. Depending on the soil type, 
steepness of the land and the amount of moisture in an area those 
recerational vehicles (ATVs, SUVs, mini-bikes, etc) can really tear up 
the land and cause a big erosion problem. The office complex where I 
work abuts a large tract of land that must be owned by an absentee owner 
so ATV folks use it a lot (without permission I'm guessing) . The damage 
I've seen over the last five years is really an eye opener. Some of my 
neighbors who hunt use ATVs on my land and I have no problem with that 
because  they ride them slowly and responsibly, so it is not a big deal, 
but people hauling a__ on those things can be a big problem....

Rob
NE PA

Cecil E Monson wrote:

>     This must be the time of the year for farm stories. In the
> local paper this morning is almost a half page article because of
> local farmers pissing and moaning over the loss of farm land they
> had been leasing from the County.
>
>     It turns out that many years ago, the County "took" about
> 4000 acres of land to build a reservoir and after completion of it,
> has been leasing 1400 acres to local farmers. Up until a couple years
> ago, they were charging $3.50 an acre. They raised it to $7 and that
> was OK until they opened it for bids. Now, it seems that farmers are
> losing the land to hunters and others who are outbidding them.
>
>     FWIW, this is pretty cheap for rented land around here. The
> regular price has been up over $50 an acre for a long time.
>
>     The article didn't say how much the hunter groups and others
> (I think there was a mention of "off road" people) were paying but
> it seems to me that instead of whining about it, a smart farmer
> would be leasing the land and then sub-leasing to hunters. I think
> these guys would pay the same amount for land that was being farmed
> as they would for idle land. Local hunters are mostly deer hunters
> and they know that open fields have excellent edges all around them
> that make great hunting. Some local hunters would pay upwards of a
> thousand bucks a year to have a place to hunt because land in our
> area for hunting is just not available any more.
>
>     Anyhow, this article caught my attention and I would be
> willing to bet the same thing is happening all over the country. I
> have to admit I would not pay to hunt as I am from the "old school"
> who hunted land that was open to hunt without paying but know lots
> of modern hunters do not mind paying. If I was a farmer with land
> that could be both farmed and hunted as a business, I think I would
> be looking for double income from it these days.
>
> Cecil