Some developers are swine.

[riptides]

How does a farmer make a million dollars?

He starts with two million.

 

[lman]

In the above scenario, that next gen farmer sells the 160 acres; maybe it is divided into 32 5 acre parcels. We get 32 new "homestead, tiny farm, life style" folks; they buy tractors, decorative "farm" gates, build driveways and homes; TBN gets 32 new members, I build roads, county gets more taxes, 32 people are happy with their new rural properties, the farmer is still farming, and with his capital investment, he is probably producing more on his 480 acres then pops did on his 640. Who lost?

The consumer. The price of food will rise and become a bigger part of expenses for the average Joe who wasn't greedy enough to get ahead of their neighbors.

 

[paulsharvey]

The consumer. The price of food will rise and become a bigger part of expenses for the average Joe who wasn't greedy enough to get ahead of their neighbors.

Not really, or atleast not by default. Pops who scraped by, and probably even did ok on his 640 acres, probably never had the Cash to do capital investment, laser leveling, field tile, get the variable rate sprayer, ect. Now, the son/daughter Does have some cash, and 480 acres. They Can maybe do some laser field leveling, install tile, upgrade to more modern equipment, and likely yield the same on 480 as dad did on 640.

Another point, in Many areas that 640 is not a single big square parcel, of all prime land. Most places, it might not even be contiguous. There are probably lower yielding fields, fields that are hard to access, and honestly, in Many cases fields that cost more in inputs than are pulled out in yields. Those could be marginal farm land, but prime residential properties; Or as mentioned else where, maybe that 40 acre piece in the back, thats always last to plant cause it stays wet, is a good candidate for a conservative easement; or a dove field, or something else.

This isn't simple "farm good, not farm bad" situation.

 

[paulsharvey]

I know it sounds pretty negative; and maybe it sounds like im saying housing is the only choice, and its Not.

If you have inherited the family farm, and really Want to keep it, you might need to get creative. Maybe dedicating 1000ft x 200 ft to a membership shooting range is an option; maybe planting dove fields, and selling hunts is; maybe a barrow pit is a good option, and once mined out, you have some cash and a big pond; maybe solar lease, maybe there Is a way to make money still farming it. It might not be the same as grand dad's farming operation, maybe its hops, hemp, grapes, exotic animals for hunting, maybe it really is corn and soy beans (or peanuts or cabbage and potatoes).

Maybe its you sell the 100 acres of row crop in Iowa, with its good CSR score, and buy 1300 acres in Oklahoma for cattle.

That's an individual decision that makes some real, honest thought, number crunching, and prayer for each person.

Maybe you lost the frito lay contract, and potatoes aren't paying this year, but due to rising development, you save the farm by switching to a sod cutting operation

 

[ruffdog]

How does a farmer make a million dollars?

He starts with two million.

Being that a big customer stopped buying soybeans, farmers around here are losing about $300/acre with that crop. Not good.

 

[LHF2019]

How does a farmer make a million dollars?

He starts with two million.

Well in my grandparents case it was by milking cows and investing that when my grandmother past 2008 was worth 1.x million. Wealth passed on to 3 children and my sister and I due to the passing of our father. Our financial advisor uses her story for an example of how to manage your money and retire well off.

 

[AntiqueIron]

Regarding the original topic…

I don’t do politics, this is just a commentary on what I’ve observed.

There’s a nearby town bordering a relatively large city. Said town is rural and undeveloped.

Zoning war erupted, I read the legislative proposal and it basically boiled down to “if you sell a property, regardless of its type, it cannot be subdivided.

Locals were angry at this, and I felt they would be just as angry seeing a farm going down and replaced with a HOA development.

I’d prefer the former over the latter honestly, but it’s really none of my business.

I guess what I’m trying to say, is that I find that often times it’s very difficult to make everybody happy.

 

[MossRoad]

Got notice last week that a developer has applied to build a subdivision across the street from me. Plan shows 72 houses on 64 acres with four retention ponds. NW corner borders a small creek. Neighbors are up in arms, I guess the FB thread (or whatever they are called, I don't do FB) was nearly a riot a friend said.
Here's what REALLY pisses me off. A few years ago, I had a conversation with one of the owners of the farm that I knew they were getting on and wouldn't be able to keep the farm up much longer, and she assured me that they had put covenants on the property that prohibited the property being developed because she knew it would be terrible for the neighborhood. Well, after they passed and the property went to their daughter, a developer friend of hers offered to buy the land and he would pay the legal bills to get the covenants removed. So that was accomplished and now we're looking at a few years of construction, noise, a lot more traffic, 72 septic systems, 72 more wells (a couple of people in the area have already had to put in deeper wells), more pollution from 72 lawns getting several doses of insecticides, herbicides and fertilizer every year.
I will have the back yards of four houses directly across from my property, a total of 16 will either face the road or face the other way. 10 will have driveways directly onto the county road in addition to the main entrance.
So tomorrow at 9:30AM there is going to be a huge turnout at the Planning Commission meeting for the approval or denial of the plan. Hope it doesn't get ugly, as some have on occasion.
The real problem I see, is that the members of the commission have virtually rubber stamped a bunch of projects this developer has submitted, even when there was overwhelming opposition against them. Part of the problem is that they are appointed, not elected, and really have no stake in the game, as it's nearly impossible to get them removed, past experience shows.
There's some talk of hiring a lawyer and I told them I would definitely support that if it became necessary.
Slimy friggin' developers...

Forgot to mention, I've lived here for 51 years. When I moved here, there were only about 20 homes within a mile of me. Now there are over 700, and almost no farm land is left.

Well, BX... everything changes. As I mentioned, my dad subdivided property on the edge of South Bend in the mid 50s. The city limits were the norther border and a county road. There was nothing to the north or west of him but farm fields. Over just my 64 years of life, I've seen several hundred houses built to the west, an industrial park, two apartment complexes, a Walmart come and go (shoplifted out of existence), fast food, sit-down restaurants, convenience stores, Meijer, car washes, a library, more housing developments with a couple thousand houses to the north all the way to the Michigan state line, the Cleveland Rd bridge over the river, a one lane bridge replaced with a two lane, more industrial parks, pretty much everything on the NW side of South Bend didn't exist when I was born. It all changed, and none of the people I knew when I was a kid live there anymore.

I understand your frustrations with being told by the original owner that the property would stay farmland, only to have the daughter take legal actions against her parent's wishes. You could blame the parents for not putting strong enough legalities in place to keep it that way. You could blame the developer for helping the daughter get around it. You could blame the daughter for going against their wishes. You could blame the commissions. All kinds of stuff. But it's just gonna eat at your gut for a long, long time. I know this, because we were denied a zoning variance for some AG land that we wanted to purchase, then a year later, they granted the same variance we were seeking to another person on the same piece of property. The only difference.... the last name... Mangus. (yep, state rep's family). It ate at me for quite a while. But as my father wisely told me many years ago, it's not what you know, it's who you know that counts more often than not.

About the only thing you can do is voice your concerns regarding traffic and density issues like septic, wells, soils types, FIRE INGRESS AND EGRESS to and from the neighborhood, drainage, etc. and hope they hear those concerns and address them to make it less painful on you and your neighbors.

As for this thread in general... some of the comments directed towards you regarding 'tough cookies', it's not your property came from some of the same folks that have expressed that they don't want a wind farm or solar farm next door to them.

Good luck. Don't let it eat you up. Advocate for the best outcome that you can reasonably expect to happen and hope for the best.

 

[4570Man]

About the only thing you can do is voice your concerns regarding traffic and density issues like septic, wells, soils types, FIRE INGRESS AND EGRESS to and from the neighborhood, drainage, etc. and hope they hear those concerns and address them to make it less painful on you and your neighbors.

.

I’m in the works with a much smaller development on 3.7 acres. The city required engineer stamped plans to comply with state regulations. The high points include sewer drawings, storm water runoff and detention pond plans, a road thats at minimum 20 ft wide with an 80 ft turn around for fire trucks and a fire hydrant 500 ft from the farthest house. Judging by the size of the project and the fact they mentioned retention ponds I’m sure the OPs developer already has engineers involved.

 

[ultrarunner]

Got notice last week that a developer has applied to build a subdivision across the street from me. Plan shows 72 houses on 64 acres with four retention ponds. NW corner borders a small creek. Neighbors are up in arms, I guess the FB thread (or whatever they are called, I don't do FB) was nearly a riot a friend said.
Here's what REALLY pisses me off. A few years ago, I had a conversation with one of the owners of the farm that I knew they were getting on and wouldn't be able to keep the farm up much longer, and she assured me that they had put covenants on the property that prohibited the property being developed because she knew it would be terrible for the neighborhood. Well, after they passed and the property went to their daughter, a developer friend of hers offered to buy the land and he would pay the legal bills to get the covenants removed. So that was accomplished and now we're looking at a few years of construction, noise, a lot more traffic, 72 septic systems, 72 more wells (a couple of people in the area have already had to put in deeper wells), more pollution from 72 lawns getting several doses of insecticides, herbicides and fertilizer every year.
I will have the back yards of four houses directly across from my property, a total of 16 will either face the road or face the other way. 10 will have driveways directly onto the county road in addition to the main entrance.
So tomorrow at 9:30AM there is going to be a huge turnout at the Planning Commission meeting for the approval or denial of the plan. Hope it doesn't get ugly, as some have on occasion.
The real problem I see, is that the members of the commission have virtually rubber stamped a bunch of projects this developer has submitted, even when there was overwhelming opposition against them. Part of the problem is that they are appointed, not elected, and really have no stake in the game, as it's nearly impossible to get them removed, past experience shows.
There's some talk of hiring a lawyer and I told them I would definitely support that if it became necessary.
Slimy friggin' developers...

Forgot to mention, I've lived here for 51 years. When I moved here, there were only about 20 homes within a mile of me. Now there are over 700, and almost no farm land is left.

I can safely say if this was in California where I live it would be near impossible to develop…

Brothers farm just down zoned because the new million to 2 million dollar homeowners in the area have their piece of paradise and block anything…

Near me is a 3.5 acre homesite that has passed through over a dozen owners in 40 years with a plan to build a single family home…

All have lost a bundle and years of their lives chasing their dream…

You would not be the first to cash out and relocate due to encroaching development.

A few farmers had very strict views and donated their land for public park or even working heritage farm.