Court Upholds Eminent
Domain Protection For Farms
CAMP HILL (Cumberland
Co.) The Pennsylvania Farm
Bureau applauded a ruling this
week by the Commonwealth
Court of Pennsylvania which up
holds the protection provided to
farms against unjust eminent do
main condemnation for highway
construction projects.
The Court, in a 2 -1 decision,
held that the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Transportation (Penn-
DOT) must submit its {dans to
condemn the farm of Lois and La
mar White of Greene Township,
Franklin County, to the state Agri
cultural Land Condemnation Ap
proval Board (ALCAB) for ap
proval. ALCAB was established
to prevent condemnations of farm
land for highway construction
projects if a reasonable alternative
to the condemnation of farmland
is available.
PennDOT wants to take the
While farm in order to construct a
new interchange on Interstate 81
near Chambersburg. Throughout
the design of the highway project,
PennDOT has insisted it is not re
quired to submit the Exit 7 porject
to ALCAB, basing its contention
on an exception provided in law
for activities performed on an
“existing highway.”
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau had
filed an amicus curiae brief in the
case in support of a lawsuit filed
by the Whites. “PcnnDOT’s inter
pretation of the ‘existing highway*
exception would have allowed it
to avoid responsibility for
ALCAB review and approval on
virtually every highway project
that proposed to condemn farm
land,” said John Bell, Pennsylva-
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for
nia Farm Bureau’s Governmental
Affairs Counsel “Almost every
new highway project can be asso
ciated with an ‘existing high
way’.”
In its amicus curiae brief. Farm
Bureau argued that the General
Assembly, in enacting the 1979
law which established ALCAB,
intended the “existing highway”
exemption to apply only to proj
ects such as road widening, taking
out curves or reconstructing an
existing toad. The Exit 7 project,
on the other hand, would create a
new toad system in the local area
with a new interchange with 1-81,
relocation of three existing roads
near the proposed new inter
change, and elimination of an
overpass which presently links
farmland on the east and west
sides of the four-lane interstate
highway.
Commonwealth Court, in its
decision issued Aug. 30, agreed
with Farm Bureau that the “exist
ing highway” exemption is clearly
limited by the law. President
Judge James Colins wrote that,
“ALCAB has jurisdiction over
condemnation for highway pur
poses with the exception of activi
ties relating to existing highways
that do not go beyond the existing
roadbed. Relocation of highways
and the addition of an interchange
involving new ramps and connec
tor roads are clearly outside the
scope of the exception (to
ALCAB REVIEW), and Penn-
DOT must seek ALCAB approval
before it can file a declaration of
taking.”
The Court ruling is welcome
news for Pennsylvania fanners
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everywhere. “For years, Pcnn-
DOThas been trying to usea legal
loophole to avoid ALCAB review
on the Exit 7 project,” said Bell.
“Commonwealth Court applied
Joint Milk Marketing Venture Created
SYRACUSE, N.Y. Dairylea
Cooperative Inc., of Syracuse,
New York, and Dairy Farmers of
American (UFA), of Kansas City,
Missouri, have joined forces to
create a milk-marketing venture in
the Northeast that will enhance re
turns for their farmer-members, as
well as provide superior service to
their customers.
The new entity. Dairy Market
ing Services, LLC, will serve as
the marketer of close to 10 billion
pounds of raw milk annually, pro
vided by more than 6,000 dairy
producers located throughout
New England, New York, Penn
sylvania. New Jersey, Maryland,
Delaware and West Virginia.
Dairy Marketing Services will be
supplying the milk requirements
of 90 processors and manufactur
ers in the region.
Dairylea and DFA are the two
largest dairy cooperatives in the
Northeast This 50/50 venture re
lates solely to their milk market
ing operations. Membership acti
vities, other member services and
lines of business will remain se
parate.
“We arc excited about putting
together this venture which will
allow for increased savings for our
farmers on hauling and supply dis
tribution,” said Clyde Rutherford,
president of Dairylea. “At the
same time, we will be managing
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 11, 1980-All
sound reasoning in concluding
that the ‘existing highway’ excep
tion is to be interpreted very nar
rowly. The Court’s ruling will go
far in preventing PennDOT or
other highway agencies from us
ing legal loopholes to avoid their
responsibility to go before
ALCAB and demonstrate that
about 35 percent of the North
east’s milk supply, which will en
able us to provide superior service
to our customers, particularly
those large dairy companies with
multiple plant operations.”
“DFA is the largest dairy co
operative in the county, represent
ing 25,000 farms and 37 billion
pounds of milk,” said Lew Gard
ner, chairman of DFA’s Northeast
Council. “We are pleased to be
joining forces with Dairylea in the
Northeast for the mutual benefit of
farmer-members and customers.
Together, we can have a much
greater impact on milk-marketing
activities in the region.”
Dairylea and DFA currently
have a common investment in
Dietrich’s Milk Products in Penn
sylvania, and have milk exchange
arrangements with several of their
common customers. The creation
of Dairy Marketing Services will
improve the efficiency of serving
the fluctuating needs of all their
customers. Major customers of
Dairy Marketing Services include
Suiza Foods, Kraft Foods, Great
Lakes Cheese, Leprino Foods,
HJP. Hood and Sorrento Cheese.
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their highway projects justify the
taking of productive terms and
will cause the least disruption of
local agriculture.”
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is a
voluntary, statewide farm or
ganization representing over
27,000 term and rural families.
‘This venture makes sense from
every angle,” said Rutherford.
“For many, many years, tenners
have been concerned about the
lack of cost-effectiveness with re
spect to several milk tankers going
down the same roads and picking
up milk at different terms depend
ing on which cooperative the
fanner belonged to. Additionally,
milk supplies that were logical for
a particular plant often went to a
more distant facility, because the
cooperative serving that customer
did not market that local block of
milk. With the creation of Dairy
Marketing Services, we move a
giant step closer to maximizing
the efficiency of milk assembly
and distribution in our region.”
Dairy Marketing Services will
maintain offices just outside of
Syracuse, in Liverpool, N.H. Rick
Smith, Dairylea’s chief executive
officer and John Collilns, DFA’s
senior vice president, will serve as
co-CEOs of Dairy Marketing Ser
vices, and John Siglow, vice presi
dent and chief operating officer
for Northeast DFA, will assume
the position of chief operating of
ficer.
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