|
A brief definition of 'farm' and a look at farmland preservation as
opposed to rural development
Send a link to a friend
By John Fulton
[NOV.
24, 2003]
There are quite a few
reasons to define what a farm is. Among those are income tax filing
and deductions, membership in farm organizations, property tax
valuation, farm program benefit eligibility, and the right to build
on a parcel of land. Many definitions of a "farm" currently exist,
and they are all correct -- at least as far as the entity that
defined the farm is concerned.
|
|
Many communities are studying the
definition of a "farm," the minimum size of a land parcel to build
on and the effects of development on farming. It all boils down to
zoning. And once again, there really isn't any right or wrong to
it -- at least until we develop 20-20 hindsight some years in the
future.
When researching the minimum farm or
rural lot size to build on, one can find a wide range. The minimum
size is one acre, and the most common large size that is practical
is 40 acres. Many counties have a five-acre parcel size. There are
supporters of all these sizes, and for very good reason.
Smaller sizes favor rural
development. This is good for tax bases, realtors, construction
trades and others that would benefit from more homes being built
in a rural area. Larger sizes have the advantage of preserving
agricultural land for farming purposes. If someone is willing to
buy 40 acres to build a house on, odds are that the person will
rent the remainder for farming purposes. For lots of less than 10
acres, the remainder could be mowed or pastured with a few
animals.
Many rapidly growing areas that have
made 40-acre minimums for building a rural home have discovered
something unusual. Agricultural land has been taken out of
production more quickly than when there were lesser acreage
requirements. Many people in these rapidly expanding areas are
glad to buy the 40 acres and often use all 40 acres. Conservation
plantings and horse pastures are two of the more common uses.
Another consideration in these zoning
matters is water availability and an adequate amount of ground for
waste disposal. Many of the unincorporated developments that
occurred before zoning have private wells and septic systems. It
doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that your septic
field, as well as your neighbor's, is very close to your drinking
water source. This issue begs for a tiered system of needed land
to build on -- one that is based on amount of ground to adequately
supply water and dispose of wastes.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
Zoning aside, what is a farm? I tend
to side with those who use gross revenue definitions of a farm.
There are some livestock operations that generate over $1,000,000
on less than 20 acres of ground, while there are other operations
that generate less than $6,000 on the same acreage.
As debates continue, and they will
forever, keep some of these thoughts in mind. Zoning should be
done with a vision. That vision can be to preserve farmland or it
can be to foster development. It can also be something in between.
The last word is on neighborly
relations. If you haven't ever lived in the country, there can be
some trying times. These include a sudden shift in wind when a
neighbor is applying manure, a farmer operating a tractor with a
straight pipe long into the night when the weather is going to
break, following large farm equipment at 15 mph for over two
miles, and other such things. The livestock smell issue even can
pit the farm neighbor who doesn't have livestock against the one
that does. Everyone just has to use a little common sense and be
courteous. Once again, the golden rule would handle most of these
disputes.
As the
debates rage on, maybe at least you'll be a little better prepared
to take part. And remember to look down the road with the vision
of where you want the area to go.
[John
Fulton]
 |
Previous
columns