A2B-LancMttr Farming, Saturday, April 8,1989
Court Rules In Favor
(Continued from Page A 1)
Madaline Palladino wrote: “Con
demnation of an entire working
farm for school buildings pro
jected to be needed over the next
five to 12 years where probable
need is based on assumptions and
possibilities that have been chal
lenged by contrary evidence is
beyond the eminent domain power
vested in the board by die public
school code and constitutes an
abuse of discretion.”
Richard Breckbill, president,
Chester/Del. County Farmers
Assn., said that the Common
wealth court’s decision to uphold
the decision by Chester County
Common Pleas court judge, Char
les B. Smith, was a step in the right
direction.
“At our board meeting Wednes
day evening we agreed that we
continue to support Naaman King
100 percent,” Breckbill said. “And
we hope this decision will stop the
expensive waste of local taxpay
ers’ money in legal fees.
“We know the school will need
additional land in the future,”
Breckbill said. “We just hope good
farmland doesn’t need to be used.”
One of the major concerns
expressed by farm leaders is the
idea that the school district has
condemned the whole farm and
took title of both land and mineral
rights without negotiating a purch
ase price or making any payment
to King. In addition, these fanners
believe that one of the deciding
factors in the court’s decision was
the idea proposed by some school
board officials that they can specu
late with the remainder of the
unneeded land.
But Attorney Alan J. Jarvis, the
school district’s solicitor, said in a
telephone interview Friday that
both suppositions by the farmers
are false. First, Jarvis said the
school district would have needed
to immediately pay an “estimated
just compesnation,” if King would
have agreed to the condemnation.
But since the courts have been
used in this case, compensation is
not required until all legal avenues
have been explored.
And as for “speculation” on the
land not needed for school pur
poses, Jarvis said they just can do
that. “The law says that any land
not used by the school within ten
years would need to be turned back
to King at the price they paid for
it,” Jarvis said.
Jarvis did not know about the
taking of mineral rights.
As for the ruling last week. Jar
viS thinks the court used contradic
tory reasoning to arrive at its deci
sion. “They said the school board
acted properly with the informa
tion it had before it,” Jarvis
said.“ Yet they turn around and
find an abuse of discretion. I think
what they are saying is that you
can’t use condemnation for long
range planning. And I have never
heard a case argued that way
before.”
Jarvis also contended that the
judges woe wrong when they pre
vented him from arguing the facts
of Smith’s original decision. Butin
her brief. Pallandino referred to the
position of the state Supreme
Court, which has said that the pow
er of eminent domain poses such
an infringement on private rights
that its use must be strictly
regulated.
King answers the question that
he and his family had planned to
develop their land anyway by not
ing that all his land is in Act SIS.
This act provides tax relief for
Chester County farmers who agree
to restrict their land against
development
“All my land is in Act 515,"
King said. This means I cannot sell
lots smaller than ten acres. And if I
want to change it I need to give 10
years prior notice and pay all the
roll-back tax and compound
interest.
“We want to farm,” King said.
“I hate to see land covered with
concrete. And I feel bad that we
call this progress.”
An article published in the
March edition of the school stu
dent newspaper “Brave Ledger”
gave the school board’s position in
relation to the available 85 acre
farm of Aldus King (Naaman’s
cousin) vs. the King farm in
question.
“For the past several months the
school board has also explored the
possibility of purchasing all or part
of the 85-acre Aldus King proper
ty, als6 adjacent to the existing
school site,” the report says.
Although Mr. Aldus King has
expressed a willingness to discuss
the sale of his property, ...portions
of the Aldus King property are
(Continued from Page AM)
finned by other agencies using
paper for bedding purposes. Also,
in Israel where they have the top
producing cows in die world, their
cows are getting 4-6 pounds of
straw per day.
--Utilize food processing wastes
such as wet brewer’s grain, liquid
whey, and apple portiace. These
food processing wastes keep new
England and the Shenandoah Val
ley farmers in business, according
to Adams.
--Cut down on feed waste. Some
forage and feed systems can actu
ally loose up to 3S percent. The
method of hay storage by using the
large round bale is the biggest con
tributor to forage waste.
suitable for the school site,
although the Naaman King proper
ty is for more suitable.
The report then lists a “signific
antly” less cost per acre because of
the agriculture zoning; the “physi
cal proximity” as more suitable to
the present school site and the less
desirable “slope of the land and
soil type, as the three main reasons
they seek the Naaman King farm
rather than the Aldus King farm.
No author for the school news
paper report was given but a “LIFE
vs. LAW” hand-lettered logo
appeared at the end of the article.
While those who support farm
land preservation say the ruling is a
great victory for farmers. King is
much more subdued in his
response.
“When I see that they have
revested the land tide and mineral
rights back in my name. I’ll know
it’s over,” King said. “I’ve learned
not to rejoice too soon, though it’s
a step in the right direction.
“I really don’t think it’s fair to
condemn a man before he’s proven
guilty,” King said. “And I do think
it’s thievery to condemn the land
without prior negotiations.”
Apparendy the court agrees
with King. But the school district
may still request to be reheard by
the Commonwealth Court, or they
can take the case to the State
Supreme Court.
Whatever the next move by the
school district. King says the legal
costs have been “horrendous”.
“We just live a day at a time,” King
said.
Water Shortage
‘B9
Conserve Water-Feed High
Moisture Feed
Conservation of water will be
critical in 1989. It takes a lot of
water to produce milk. To lower
water use farmers can use more
pasture and green chop and other
feeds feed with high water content.
Consider these forages:
-Pasture is 20% Dry matter
(DM) content and 80% water.
-Haylage is 50% DM and 50%
watei:;
--Hay is 90% DM and 10%
water.
-Wet Brewers grain is 24% DM
and 75% water;
-Liquid Whey is 5% DM and
95% water.
“Cheese plants are going out of
business because they can’t get rid
of the liquid whey.” said Adams.
“And it may cost you absolutely
nothing or a minimal amount for
the hauling.”
That adds up to a big difference
in water consumption on a 60 cow
herd and it may improve reproduc
tion and milk performance on
those animals.
Crop Insurance—Sign Up By
April 15
Fanners have until April IS to
sign up for Federal Crop Insur
ance. And according to Bill Foose,
from the the FCIC in Harrisburg,
fanners need to take action to
hedge against possible losses
because the word from Congress is
there won’t be another disaster
relief bill in 1989.
CHAMBERSBURG (Franklin)
The Fourteenth Annual Frank
lin County 4-H Calf Sale will be
held on Friday, April 14, at 7:00
p.m. The sale will be held at Ralph
Horst’s sale bam, which is located
one mile East of Marion along
Route 914 just off 1-81 at Exit 4.
The sale, which is open to the
public for bidding, will feature
approximately 2S calves. Franklin
County 4-H Dairy Council spon-
BARN SPRAYING IS OUR BUSINESS
WE WHITEWASH OVER 1,000
BARNS A TEAR USING
ADVANTAGE FARM WHITE
• DRIES WHITE •NO WET FLOORS
• IS COMPATIBLE WITH DISINFECTANT AND FLY SPRAYS
• DOES NOT RUB OFF EASILY
• WASHES OFF WINDOWS & PIPELINES EASILY
BARN CLEANING SERVICE
AVAILABLE WITH COMPRESSED AIR
To hive your bun cleaned with air it will dean off dust, cob web* A lots of the
dd lime. This will keep your bam looking cleaner ft whiter longer.
BEITZEL’S SPRAYING
Witmer, PA 17585
717-392-7227 or We will take work
Toll Free 1-800-727-7228 within 100 mile
7:00 AM to 5:00 PM radius of Lancaster
CERTIFIED COMMERCIAL APPLICATORS
LICENSED INSURED
5 Ttcyci* For Air Cleaning And Whitewashing
|tADIO DISPATCHED TRUCKS
Is Your Sprayman Here Today And Gone
I’bmoirrbw? We Have 128 Yekrs Experience!
Franklin County Plans
4-H Dairy Calf Sale
There is a variety of crops which
are insurable, but if farmers want
other crops insured, Foose recom
mended they go directly to their
Congressman to have specific
crops added to the list
Soybean crop insurance,
according to Foose, is now avail
able in every Pennsylvania county.
Farmers have a choice of cover
age level and they should give this
a great deal of thought. Most far
mers select the 65% level. The
50% level in most cases will not
cover the farmers costs of
production.
For example, at 50% a farmer
who usually harvests 100 bushels
of com per acre would only be paid
for the difference between his
actual yield and SO bushels. At the
lowest level, FCIC will pay the far
mer $1.50/bushel for every bushel
he is below his guarantee of SO
bushels. The claim most likely will
not cover his production costs.
Also, for those farmers with
more than one farm; if they go by
ASCS records the production fig
ures for all farms are combined and
treated as one unit. So if there is a
loss on one farm, the farmer may
not be compensated for it Howev
er, if the fanner can produce 1988
yield records, the FCIC can set up
farms as individual units.
Fanners must analyze how
much it actually costs them to pro
duce their crop and the obtain the
coverage they need accordingly.
sots the sale with commission fees
going to support 4-H dairy club
educational activities.
Sale catalogs will be available
at the sale and at the Franklin
County Extension Office after
April 11th. Richard Crider, Cham
bersburg, is sale chairman. For
more information contact the
Franklin County Extension Office
is 717-263-9226.