In better pipeline news, the Grant County Commission revoked the legally dubious permission it granted CAFOs to run poop pipes through county rights of way:
The motion is the result of a pending lawsuit that was to be heard in circuit court on July 16th. The suit, Tyler Revocable Living Trust vs Grant County Commissioners, claims that the county does not have the right to give permission for manure pipes to be placed in county road ditches.
These rights-of-way (66 feet) were established along every section line by the territorial legislature to guarantee a path to travel. This land is owned, and taxes are paid on it, by the adjoining landowner. By law, the rights-of-way can be used for transportation only, even though state law does permit utilities to use the rights of way without permission from landowners.
[Landowner, litigant, and former legislator Kathy] Tyler stated that she was “relieved that the county finally recognized the property rights of private citizens. It’s been a long, expensive fight, but it was worth it. It will make operators talk to the landowners before laying manure pipe or digging up driveways” [“Grant County Revokes Manure Pipe Permissions; Upholds Private Property Rights,” Dakota Rural Action, 2018.07.04].
Private property rights—that’s what we conservative South Dakotans are all about, right?
Maybe someone should send a memo about Grant County’s proper reinterpretation of state law down to Hamlin County. SDCL Chapter 31-26 says counties can allow phone and electric lines in the right of way. Hamlin County Commissioners think water is a form of electrons and have granted Canadian cheese maker Agropur permission to lay its wastewater pipeline in the right of way. One of Kristi Noem’s kin, Doug Noem, sits on the commission and made the motion giving Agropur that extralegal permission to infringe on the property rights of whoever may have a driveway along such misappropriated right of way.
SAVE THE SIOUX
In backwards iowa, rights of way along farmland are 66 feet either side of the middle of the road and farmers can mow and bale them and utilities have the right to bury cables.
Rural water runs their pipes mostly on landowners property until the need to cross roads or intersections.
For hog manure handlers that use flexible hose to pull behind tractor/applicators hoses can be run in ditches and through culverts to reach application sites on the other side of the road.
On farms it’s enough of a hassle having to deal with waste from their own livestock, household, etc.
Mike, I suppose that results in occasional sh*t spills in somebody’s front yard? Yuck.
Actually, Debbo it works better than using 10000 gallon tankers with not enough axles. These don’t usually get run anywhere near occupied buildings and the tractor/applicator stays ahead of the wet stuff that bubbles to the surface so they don’t tear up gravel and paved roads and don’t track mud and worse onto the roads.
If the closest application field has no culverts nearby, they have to use the honey wagons and they make a big mess on the roads.
Interesting. Thanks Mike.
Actually, Mike and Debbo, what worked best was small family farms with a field right next to the hog house that needed the small quantity produced by that farmer.
Worked far better for rural America than giant vertically integrated hog owners sitting in an office somewhere while the farmers that are still out here worked as their serfs for a promised pay check IF they did everything right.
That’s how we did it. Clean out the barn, shed or pen into the manure spreader and drive out to the field. Put the spreader in gear and make laps till it’s empty, then head back to the barn. Not the most pleasant job, but free fertilizer.
A point of clarification. Nothing that the commissioners did eliminates the usage of the pipes. It means that the CAFO operators need to ask, and get, permission first before laying their pipes on neighbors’ land.
Clyde, nowadays even some of the smallest remaining farms strip their cornfields of every last vestige of the previous corn crop to sell for bio-fuel and leave nothing on the ground to build soil back up.
When I farmed, we bought and fed feeder cattle to slaughter weight. We grew corn, beans, alfalfa and oats for feed and straw. We chopped corn stalks for bedding cattle sheds and then we laid a pile outside for them when the weather got real cold. We also baled every other four rows of stalks for later bedding as needed. We chopped silage and either spread manure where the silage was cut or immediately planted rye as a cover crop and for green manure in the spring.
All the used bedding was returned to the fields in the fall after bean harve4st was done. Saved on buying commercial fertilizer and was good for rebuilding topsoil.
Kathy, any idea what price the CAFO operators will offer landowners for the privilege of using their property?
Cory, don’t have a clue. There are going to be some interesting conversations!
Bravo Grant County for recognizing the disposal of waste from a private enterprise is NOT a public utility.