SG-W:/ cashing out

["Christina Lirones" <goldenspiderfarm@hotmail.com>]

Mark C is right about the reasons farmers cash out. The only thing I want to 
add is that there is a terrific market for niche farming and mixed 
agricultural uses (like we also run a very profitable kennel on our farm, 
which would be unacceptable in a residential area- and everyone needs to 
board their dog. Kennels are booming, and it's almost impossible to get a 
permit any more because residential neighbors object).

Also, in the Newmarket case, as in many others, it's not the retiring 
farmers who are selling, but heirs who may not live any where near here, and 
just want to make as much money as possible. They didn't toil, they're not 
poor, they have a 401K plan, and now they get to exploit our natural 
resources for a buck. and the scenario that they have to sell to pay the 
property taxes because of the transfer ... well they knew that was coming, 
and there are many ways to avoid that. I'm not sorry for them. I'm also not 
crying for Hillsdale College who had 150 acres of the Newmarket property 
donated to them by a generous man many years ago. They've been sitting on 
that land and speculating for years. Why do my neighbors and I have to give 
up our beautiful homes, pay for infrastructure, have my farm surrounded by 
suburbia, and have our environment ruined because Hillsdale wants as much 
money as possible? What do I care about Hillsdale?? They're CONSERVATIVES, 
for crying out loud! They think people like me should be illegal! The land 
was a donation: they could have sold it to a farmer and still made money.

Ag is the only zoning category where everyone seems to think it's ok to sell 
off the business and convert it. Think about it: if every piece of land is 
going to be sold by a farmer and converted so he/she can retire, there will 
be nothing left. They certainly can sell it, but why should the purchaser 
automatically get to convert the zoning?

My grandparents held modest jobs, and guess what? They didn't have a 
retirement plan either, other than Social Security. My mom and brother 
helped out, and that's the way it is for many, many americans who don't 
happen to be sitting on a pile of land. My aunt also owns a centennial farm 
on the west side of the state, and did she sell it to build condos? No. It's 
a tree farm.

I've been self employed for ages. I have no employer with a retirement plan. 
So Steve and I are saving on our own. And you know what? Farmers who have 
done a good job with their businesses are doing the same thing. They can 
earn a living off the land for years, then sell it to the next person who 
can earn a living off it. It's not a bank account, it's a business venture.

And you don't condemn all agriculture because person X can't figure how how 
to turn a profit there. It's like saying "I'm going to lease a store in 
Briarwood Mall, and I"m gonna sell tweezers! Every type of tweezers! We'll 
make a fortune!" Then a year later, you're bankrupt. You don't then 
say,"Commerce is dead! Nobody can earn a living in retail! Bulldoze 
Briarwood Mall, and put in a massive truck parking lot!" . Or whatever. You 
close your little store, and somebody moves in and starts selling beanie 
babies and becomes a millionaire, while you're crying in your soup trying to 
figure out your next move. I'm not saying commodities prices aren't too low, 
or that we don't have a problem importing food from Mexico that is sprayed 
with the pesticides we ban here so it's cheaper, and that we don't have a 
problem with use value taxation. I'm just saying that's not the whole story.

To me, it's like when my beloved Gramma died. Mom and her brother had her 
house to sell. They sold it for a modest profit to a young couple. They 
didn't go to court and sue so that they could raze the house and rezone it 
to put in a 24 hr. gas station in the middle of a residential neighborhood, 
because that way they could suck the most possible money out of the deal. 
But basically, that's what people who own Ag land keep doing.
Tina





________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com



===============================================================
smartgrowth-washtenaw:  Internet List and Forum for issues relating to
sprawl, smart growth, and preservation of the quality of life in Washtenaw
County.

Postings to:  smartgrowth-washtenaw@great-lakes.net      For info, send
email to majordomo@great-lakes.net  with a one-line message body of  "info
smartgrowth-washtenaw"
===============================================================