Hi guys,I don't want to make anyone angry or upset but several posts in the last few days have got me to thinking. (That's dangerous.) The first was a picture of a cornfield that had been driven over by someone and the farmer had lost a lot of crop (and $$$). The next was about inconsiderate farmers hogging the road with their big equipment. Then there was one about a newer country resident feeling the old farm community resented him and others moving into the country. The last was this morning (and has now been lost due to server problems) asking if you allow ATVs on your property. First a little background. My 190 acres have been owned by my family for 200 years. It is a typical of the farms in the Ohio valley of W. PA in that it is a lot more hill than level and more wooded than open. There is only 1 other farm on our road. The rest is houses, no developments just homes on 1/2 acre to 3 or 4 acres. A few are new a lot are 50 years old or more. I get along well with my neighbors for the most part. I do not allow ATVs on my property. I do allow hikers, dog walkers, hunters, even horseback riders, but no ATVs, or dirt bikes, 4X4s etc. Why? It all started in the 70s. It seems everybody was getting 4X4s and seeing where they could go to get stuck. Behind our property is a large track of abandonded land owned by an absentee landlord. The 4X4s could climb the hill to the top and party. The parties got wilder and I guess not every one had 4X4s so they started driving their cars through our fields to get to the parties. Then the 4X4s started to run through our fields also. For some reason this stopped and then the dirt bikes and ATVs started. With a lot of effort and talking to the local kids and calling police we now don't have much trouble. The locals are very good about respecting our property rights, about the only incidents we have now are from people from out of the area or even out of state. The other thing I don't like about ATVs is that it seems it ain't no fun if you can't tear up the ground while you're using them. Pick the steepest hill, a creek bed, some fragile landscape and ride as fast as you can, do some donuts, go over it again and again until nothing is left growing on it, then when it rains a lot and the ditches get so deep and rough that you can't go there anymore move on to another spot. Farmers are always being told to practice soil conservation, builders have to put up silt dams around construction sites on level ground but it seems fine for idiots on ATVs to do what ever damage to the land they want. My opinion is if you own the land that's your business but most of them don't own enough land to park their 2 cars, suv, pickup truck and trailer. As far as inconsiderate farmers go I think there are a lot more inconsiderate drivers out there in a hurry to get someplace they probably don't want to be anyway. Even on our little farm I try to stay off the road as much as I can but sometimes I have to drive the road. From 1 field lane to our driveway it is maybe 150 yards up hill. You can not see over the crest of the hill until you are almost to the top. Often times I will be hauling a load of sweetcorn or tomatoes up this hill and someone in an awful big hurry to make it to the ER will pass me. No accidents yet but someday one of those big 53' semis that get lost on our road or a kid in their jacked up souped up goes too d****d fast 4X4s are going to be coming the otherway. Most of the people who pass know I'll be off the road in 15 seconds or that there is a nice long level strech at the top that you can see to safely pass on. So who's inconsiderate and who's in just too big of a hurry? As far as farmer's resenting outsiders goes I guess this could happen and probably does. When I was first married I could have farmed with my FIL in eastern PA, Pennsylvania Dutch country, but I know I would have always been an outsider. I couldn,t speak Dutch but I did have a beard. I think if people who move in are resectful of the farmer's way of life and try to help out or at least stay out of the way they will eventually be accepted. Remember farmer's are not generally huggy feely type of guys so what you interpret as resentment may just be respectfully keeping their distance. Now what a lot of rural people resent is when city people move to the country and try to bring the city with them, ie. zoning restrictions, noise restrictions, odor restrictions, sidewalks, streetlights, etc. As far as the crop damage goes that is just plain old lack of respect and you ought to be allowed to just shoot the slobs on the spot. Enough of the rant, lunchtime is over, I have to get back to work but I feel better. Sorry it was so long. Phil
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