Neighbor Burned My Prairie Hay

huskerhayman · May 20, 2012

My property is next to a row crop field. Last year it was beans and this year it is corn. I cut my grass for hay and sell it. Last year they killed a little of my grass but this year it is worse. There are places where they killed the grass about 25' in. Now I realize it is just grass but if I killed his corn 25' in you bet I would hear about it. How should I go about addressing this? By the way I live in Nebraska.

whodat526 · May 20, 2012

huskerhayman said:
My property is next to a row crop field. Last year it was beans and this year it is corn. I cut my grass for hay and sell it. Last year they killed a little of my grass but this year it is worse. There are places where they killed the grass about 25' in. Now I realize it is just grass but if I killed his corn 25' in you bet I would hear about it. How should I go about addressing this? By the way I live in Nebraska.

burn his crop

no not really but i would ask him if he could disc the property line before he burns again or atleast let you know when he is going to burn so you could disc it

the farmers in my area always disc a fire lane around the property they are going to burn

allwet · May 20, 2012

Looks like a RoundUp burn... Chemical spray drift is a big concern & could affect his applicators license. Call him & ask for compensation. If he is smart he'll work with you...

DT86 · May 20, 2012

allwet said:
If he is smart he'll work with you...

I agree 100%. I'd bet he'll work with you. But then again I've been surprised by a "good" neighbor lately over a common fence line.:confused2:

Over all how much hay do you think you've lost? Are you doing square or round bales? The plus side is that you can cut and bale that part in the same day. :thumbsup: Only kidding.

rambler · May 21, 2012

I'm a farmer, on other forums I chuckle along with how 'crazy homesteaders/ behave at times.

In thi case, the farmer is in the wrong, he needs to stop that.

As mentioned, getting the state involved on a spray driftconcern is a real big issue, if he has any sense at all talking to him first and he should work with you if he has any brains.

If not, get the state folks involved, and he'll have some issues from then on.

What he's doingis sloppy and wrong.

Bad farmer.

--->Paul

NHmitch · May 21, 2012

I agree, I would contact him, and try to do things right, and settle it. You could ask him to compensate you with hay, or corn if you don't want to ask for money, but the important thing is that it is addressed. He should see what he has done, and the right thing for him to do, would be to contact you, so, if he dosen't I would contact him. Try to talk it out, if not, there are good recommendations on here. That is money out of your pocket. You may want to consider a mutual boundary line like a dirt road that is half on his, half on your property line. Your boundaries are awfully close, and he appears to be really using every inch that he can. Bottom line is that he did damage your crop, so I would contact him, especially if you are going to loose money, or if you spent money fertilizing the grass. You may also want to present it to him, that he is also not properly spraying his crops, and that is also a loss for him, as the expensive chemical is not on target. In Nebraska, they have to be certified to apply a restricted product. This article explains how it works in Nebraska, 1: The second is a good article about the application of pesticides, and avoiding spray drift from the University of Nebraska 2:

1: Nebraska Farm Bureau - News Releases

2: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2231&context=extensionhist

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChOfFyNzRTY]Consequences of Spray Drift - YouTube[/ame]

huskerhayman · May 21, 2012

I round bale and it is about. 2-3 bale loss over the year. The ground is rented and I will have to do a little work to figure out who rents it. The landowner does not live out here and is not a popular person because of the way he changed the way the water drains. He filled in a dry creek and really messed things up. The person that owns another adjoining property had to spend $5k to have a drainage ditch dug. If it would have been me I would have took him to court but he said he talked to a lawyer and the lawyer said there was only a 50% chance of winning. It didn't effect me and as far as I know we are still on good terms.

blueriver · May 21, 2012

This is going to get interesting ... yes he needs to be held accountable ... I can't wait to hear his response!!

Larry Caldwell · May 21, 2012

huskerhayman said:
My property is next to a row crop field. Last year it was beans and this year it is corn. I cut my grass for hay and sell it. Last year they killed a little of my grass but this year it is worse. There are places where they killed the grass about 25' in. Now I realize it is just grass but if I killed his corn 25' in you bet I would hear about it. How should I go about addressing this? By the way I live in Nebraska.

Send him a bill for the replacement hay.

idaho2 · May 21, 2012

huskerhayman,

Anything in the mail on this situation is by Certified Signed Recipt. Get a log started with photos of the problem area and make copies of any correspondence. I agree with Blueriver this is going to be interesting and educational.

idaho2