Hank is clearly an ignorant soul.
Whether or not Leach is a millionaire from selling his land is of no consequence here. The point is he got out because had he not the property could have been taken through eminate domain and he would have gotten a lot less. So I for one do not blame him. Secondly, he gave up his livelihood because he was witnessing what was happening as city folk pushed their way out..
Soil is lost, farmland is lost, its covered with concrete and blacktop. Once destroyed its gone. Only an ingnorant punk like Hank wouldn't understand.

Secondly, for those so concerned about chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, fertilizer are all regulated. For some you have to have a license to buy it let alone apply it. Do you think the stuff you put on your lawn every spring summer and fall is any better? If anything its probably worse. Kids are running around in it. Animals are in it. You are in it. How many kids do you see running through fields of oats, wheat, corn, alfalfa, barley, soybeans, etc?

Hank there are people in this country who are homeless, starving, so don't preach to me about there being more than enough food; because obviously if anyone in this great nation doesn't have food, there isn't enough! Not to mention the fact that the US also exports food to other countries. Yet there are still starving children around the world.

And for those of you who seem to think that the subsidies farmers get is over the top, they work 365 days a year regardless of the weather, they bust their backs to make a living, they have no healthcare, no vacation or sick days, its a thankless job.

To farmers and those of us who grew up on a farm, know how unappreciated farmers are. And how difficult it is to live on whatever they are able to sell. Farmers don't get rich, and if they are making any profit; they count their blessings and hope that next season is plentiful. Farm life is the hardest life to live but its every bit worth the experience. I wouldn't trade growing up on a farm for anything. I saw what it did to my uncle, grandfather, grandmother, and other farmers in the area. So yes Hank, your remarks are ignorant. And you are pathetic.

Hank- you still don't get it. You categorized ALL farmers and brought up programs and supposed tax credits with no merits. If you have an issue with Mr.Leach or any farmer, take it up with them in private. Instead all you have done is try to give all individuals of that occupation a bad wrap.

I suggest whenever urban developement reaches ag land one of you know-it-alls like jterry1955 show up with your checkbook and buy the land at market price and farm it, pay the higher tax and just live happily ever after. It's the farmers land and they have the right to deal with it as they choose. Show them the MONEY then the new buyer can decide. Where the hell does GM fit in this conversation?

Hank- to get the CORRECT information on the ACRE program, please call the county FSA office. ACRE is a federal program but is based on state and national information that hedges against prices and statewide yield formulas. The information you are providing is inaccurately written. I deal with farmers on a daily basis and this is a program I am frequently asked about (no I don't work at FSA).

patarican1's post of 2/15 hits the nail right on the head. That is why we need to be vocal at the meetings NOW, so that elected officials do not vote against what most of the public wants and that is protect our current farmland. Notice they ignored his pleas and that of the Director of Ag. We need to be asking questions of our council reps when they are running for office and this subject needs to be one at the top of the list. Don't vote in anyone that doesn't deem it important to protect the balance of farmland we have. Pretty simple. Mr. Leach is obvious in what his concerns are, he was and still is a victim of urban sprawl and while we will need to be able to grow, it makes no sense to give in to using up our best farmland. I am thrilled this topic has been brought to the public's attention and hope that it remains that way.

CornandBeans: Thanks for the update on Tracy Seeds. Chile...Argentina...knew it was somewhere in South America. :)

napalm- the nitrates don't stay in the soil. It is their nature to leach down with the water and into the water table. I'd be more worried to drink the water from nearby wells, than to play in the soil.

Thanks, cornbeans! Someone who actually knows a thing or two!

jterry1955 don't blame the GM workers. Its a natural thing in our country to want more. Some farmers also worked at GM. As for Hank, I looked at your link and it is the ACRE program you are sending people to. This program has not been around long (maybe a year or two) and to my knowledge it is a insurance based program. The only reasons I can see a farmer plowing up a crop is: not enough grain to justify a harvest or the quality is bad enough that it isn't safe for consumption or the initial planting was not successful. In these cases the only payment you might get is if you had crop insurance or the area was considered and natural disaster. In our farms 70+ years we have no record of plowing up a crop.

Still didn't read where the cropland is plowed under, or not allowed to be harvested.

every on of you that so far have written are all just a bunch of idiot city people, I have known Kirk going on 45+ years.I have also been involved in farming in one way or another going on 35 years, the biggest problem is that all of you people want your 6 bedroom, 3 bathroom McMansions, all on the east side, this has been going on for years, the biggest culprets were the greedy GM employees, but at least they are gone, now when are you idiots going to join them,please make it soon

There's also subsidies, I believe, for corn storage, etc., and I'm no expert, but I seriously doubt that the government will pay you to plow it under. I'll just call the USDA down the road.

By the way, most of the government ag programs are being paid to not plant crops, not plant and then "plow them under". Show me the exact source of those comments.

News flash! "Dirt" is not the same as "soil".

Purrmaid- I like your comments and am just putting the facts out there. I wish everyone would do some research and post good constructive comments. If you don't know the truth then ask, just like you did. Thank you.

purrmaid- Tracy Seeds no longer grows seed corn. The farm was actually in Chile. The only reason for that farm was for winter production of seed. Due to the high cost of tech fees by Monsanto it is really tough for small seed companies to compete. Tracy Seeds raises soybean seed for other companies. Remember people it isn't just planting crops any more, there are many factors at work in farming these days.

I see a lot of ignorant remarks.
When the farm land is gone and you don't have food on your plate thank the urbanization of farmland.

When wolves, coyotes, bears and other wildlife are at your door and in your yard thank urbanization.

The more farmland and natural habitat that is destroyed by urbanization the more natural resources are destroyed, this is what will lead to further destruction of the planet.

It's sad and it's preventable. Yet people without a clue spout off about things they know nothing about.

The next time you eat that steak, drink a glass of milk, eat a slice of toast or bowl of oatmeal think about where it came from. It came from the farmer who busts his rear to put food on your table and gets beat up because he may have used chemicals (which are regulated).

Look at the label on foods you eat, what do you think preservatives are; your indulging in chemicals every day and those are more detrimental than chemicals used on farmland.

Amen Kersty52

The greater number of ecoli outbreaks from foreign (unregulated?) produce, the greater value homegrown items become and therefore the land on which those crops are grown. I'd heard years ago that the Rock Prairie area truly has some of the best soil in the world.

Does Tracy Seeds still grow their seed corn there and in Argentina? If so, that speaks to the value of the land's quality in agriculture.

This is from the Barlass farm article:

Hank said - I really do not understand his concern. If he waits it out he will charge $15,000 or so a acre for his farm, and take home $8.6 Million Dollars with a one time homestead tax exemption on his capital gains. That is unless Obama changes the rules to steal his wealth.

Hank said - tracymi
So your telling me if a developer called your husband up , and said I have a check for $8.6 Million dollars to purchase some land with. He says I have narrowed it down to your farm or a farm on the other side of town.
A old farm saying is make hay while the sun shines.
If your husband follows the farmers creed he would be looking to meet with that developer at the bank in a hour. Grab that check, and cash it before the ink was dry.

Then this from cornnbeans (which makes a lot of sense.
Hank- You really don't understand a lot of things dealing with land sales, much less farming. If a farmer sells land for $8.6 mil but bought the land 60 years ago for $600,000. He has to pay cap gains tax on $8 mil. So in most cases it is better to do a 1031 exchange for other land and not cash in. Making your farmer rich on paper but only on paper.

This is my reply to cornnbeans:
What Hank does for a living is to post on the Gazette blogs! He hates farmers and he hates the city and he hates Eric Levitts and he hates......!! JMO

Hank, I suggest you just copy and paste becuz you sound like a broken record!!! Get a life!!

News flash HANK!! Leach has every right to those programs. All if not most farmers recieve some sort of payment like that from the govt. I know that because I also farm, you make it sound like he obtained it illegaly which he didnt, at least he deserves this govt money unlike the govt welfare money that some people get who are quite able bodied and capable of working a job but choose not to because they are too lazy

If your are unhappy with YOUR comprehensive plan, then contact YOUR City manager, and YOUR City Council, and demand that OUR Comprehensive Plan be revised before it is too late. The only thing saving these lands now, is the recession. The County, in 2005 adopted a Farmland Preservation Map that now has to be updated to reflect the City's Comp Plan - lots of land lost from the preservation category. Instead, the City should have considered the preservation map when creating their comp plan. We do not need to include these lands in our comp plan, there is enough vacant property in the City for development and redevelopment to last for the 20 years required by the Comp Plan. There are lots of ways to "grow" a city - continuing to build outward only causes degradation of the inner city neighborhoods. The Metcalf farm, that was annexed for development, and then not developed, should have an expiration date and convert back to AG zoning.

For those that say we have no right to dictate what farmers do with their land - you are right. These farmers, in these stories, are telling us that they do not want to be told that their land will be developed. Thank you to the Leach Family, the Hanauskas, Arndts, Barlass' and all of the other farming families for their committment to the land.

If you want to make a difference, you have to get involved, and there is no time like the present.

citycouncil@ci.janesville.wi.us

No Farms No Food.

It is sad to see this happening and my heart is with the farmer today as I stated in the post reguarding chickens in the city. The farmer is pushed futher and further away, as to unneeded developements. Look how many proposed sub-division went under when GM closed, (right across from Parker the owners lost it all)And now you all know why we need chickens in town as soon the farmer will be extinct as we know them and I can speak from experience as to that dear government limiting tobacco crops and whatever the could force their control of, eventually my family members could not afford the cost with the little they were allowed. I grew up working on farms and harvesting tobacco and if you want to know what hard work was that was it. But as kids we did it and the reward was great work ethics and You see many farmers and their kids that have them, unlike a majority of the city kids today. JMO

Like fairy rings of mushrooms around a submerged rotting stump--cities expand and eat up the fertile land at the edges while the centers decay.

No doubt that one day people will live to regret the waste of resources for the blight of tract housing developments and box stores.

sannio- Maybe so, but it was/is sick gov't "programs" that have made it only 1%....its not like many many other people aren't willing and able to engage in farming.

Mr. Leach is one of the 1% that feeds the other 99% of us. Food for thought.

I've wondered how some of these big buildings and lots just seem to get "parked"....Is it a bunch of sick "tax incentives" that allow this?...That is a travesty.....Build more while making it financially advantageous to leave othjers empty...SICK.

You know what I find to be funny...people go outside of the city so they can get that "fresh country air". So many people are doing that small communities are being set up that bring more people out, chewing up more farm land, growing cities. Let me ask you Hank, how big should a city be allowed to be? I do think it should have a set limit...continuos urban sprawl wrecks resources and takes away that "fresh country air". I by no means am a so called "lefty" but I DO have some common sense at times. Cities that grow to large (Detroit) that have no sustainable employers die from the inside out.
Farmers are self-employed, and yes they are able to get government subsidies, but so are the people who dont want to get jobs and not work (not talking about the Janesville area, but where I reside now). I grew up on a family farm in NW Rock county, so yeah I do have some insights to this problem. People need to just look at the big picture.

So everyone should complain to the City Council for adopting their 20 year plan-which includes using the farmalnd to the south and east of Janesville for further development. But just because they adopted the plan doesn't mean it has to happen. I was at the final city meeting for this plan, and I read to the council a letter from the Director of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection-he asked the council to reject plans to develop any land to the east and south of the city because of the high quality soils there, and encouraged them to come up with a plan that better suited the needs of the community and not the needs of the developers. Of course, the council voted for the plan, but not unanimously. Time to elect a new council, folks. Also, it woldn't hurt to let them know now how important this is to the future of Janesville and how you are also a registered voter.

Hank-you're forgetting something. You can always build a new road. You can always rebuild a house. Heck, you can even rebuild a business. As a matter of fact you can even make new babies. But one thing you can not make is new land. Once it's gone, it's gone. It has been known for years that this area of the country is the belt buckle to the farm belt of our country. It is the richest growing soil in the country. It's really hard to make a crop grow when you've got a factory or road way on top of it. So the guy has money. Big whoop dee freakin' doo! It's quite obvious from the story that he cares more about the land and what a rich assett it is to the farming community.

Who cares if Mr. Leach is a millionnaire or not. The point is that he is doing what he enjoys... providing for the community, state, country, and world.

The point is, also, that once this land is contaminated, it's hard to replace the magnitude of what came natural to begin with... a non-renewable resource.

One of the county board candidates supports more appropriate land use planning and farmland preservation but change will not come easily or quickly. Also recognizing the issue that has been with us for a long time seems disingenuous and self-serving. Most politicians won't touch the issue with a ten foot pole.

We can't go back in time and change things. The point is that we need to put in place sustainable mechanisms that consolidate development and encourage urban concentration instead of sprawl. If we wanted to save the old Leach land, we probably needed to start limiting development on the east side a decade earlier. But only a small number of people were thinking along those lines then.
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In the end the problem is not solvable with a one-size-fits-all solution. Most farmland development takes place because it meets the economic needs of the owners, and it generally happens after a significant life event, for instance a death or illness, that takes the active farmer in the family out of commission. That's not easily controlled.
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Having this conversation now will ensure that future farmland is given more serious consideration when development triggers occur.

Hank,
I think you are missing the point that the agricultural value of this land will be lost forever. So go lay down with your $15,000 comments.

No it shouldn't stagnate but how do you justify burying in concrete some of the most productive farmland in the world. Janesville has other areas to grow into that will not destroy this land.

So cities should stagnate then?

Here's to the farmers of the United States. People seem to forget without you most of the worlds food supply would diminish...remember the "breadbasket of the world?" I hope people realize that once this land is tore up and urbanized the most valuable of the soil, topsoil, is destroyed. People need to pull their heads outta' their butts and watch what is going on with the world food market. I really don't care to eat any more food produced in Mexico, bacterial infections just arent my thing.

Again, it seems that the "high and mighty" of Janesville think that farmland is replacable. Show a little respect to the family farmers who give it their all and love it. Don't take away their love of the land!

In other words, don't bite the hand that feeds you!