HOW TO MAKE 18 GALLONS OF FUEL PER DAY!

Store Manure ^Safely

A ^{DEADLY manure}

^storage

^bomb

^unit.

^may

Without warn-^{lurk in your} ing, the rightsparkcouldsetoffablast.

Toxic gases

such

as

ammonia,

methane, caibon ^dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are released fi'om decomposing manure.

Even

extremelylowconcentra- tionscan cause headaches, irritation of the respiratory tract, nausea and dizzi- ness.

Higheramounts cankill. Ifone-tenth of1percentofthe availableairis lethal gas, fainting and death can occur with

littleor

no

warning.

Many

individualshavefallenvictimto

manure

gases.

The

National Safety Council suggestsseveralprecautionsthat can reduce the hazards of stored fer- tilizer.

Adequateventilationisof utmostim- portancetokeepgas concentrations low.

Exhaustfans anda stand-by

power

sys- tem are listed as

good

investments in safety. Doors and

windows

should be opened

when

agitating manure, andthe operator should stay out ofthe storage area.Ifa

manure

pitmust beentered,use aself-contained breathing device and a safetyharness with rope.Ifyou're wear- ing the harness and get trapped in a chamber,otherswon't haveto risk enter- ing the unit to pull

you

out.

Good

waste

management

willnotonly reduce danger but better maintain the overallnutrientvalueofyour manure.

The

plant nutrient content of animal manure varies with animal species, the amountofbeddingorlitter, lossesofthe Uquid portion and handling. Since half thenutrientcontentisinthe liquid,effort shouldbe

made

toreduceliquid losses.

Adequate beddingmaterials andproper inspection of storage facilities are

two

musts.

To save nutrientcontent

when

apply- ing, incorporate

manure

intothe soilas soonafterspreadingas possible,orbetter yet,injectitwithattaclunentsonthetank wagon.

More power

isusedbutupto

20

percent of the nitrogen

may

be saved, odors are eliminated and run-offpollu- tionisreduced.

Sperry

New

Holland, makers of fer- tilizerequipment, outlinea fewno-no's

when

handlingmanure.

Do

Not:

• storeorpileandleaveuncovered

• spread

on snow

• spreadonhard-firozensteep hillsides

• pull heavy spreaders across

muddy

fields

By

using

good

judgment,

you

canturn apileof wasteintoausefulresourcefor productionandprofit.

December-January, 1979-SO

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NOTHING

unusual about abeefranch in central Colorado

—

^the state har- bors

many

^sprawlingcattlefeedlotsand endless acres of feed-producing crop- land. But Kevin Smith,an

FFA member

from Golden, Colorado,livesonaranch setapartfromthenorm. First,not

many farms

run

purebred

polled black Limousincattleand,second,mostaren't threatened by a creeping destruction

—

urban encroachment.

Kevin, 19, is one-third

owner

ofthe

known

andrespectedSmithCattle

Com-

pany.

Long

attached to the cattle busi- ness,Kevinhelps

manage

the2,000-acre

The Coming of

The City

Near the borders of the Smith family ranch, new houses stand where once there was grazing land — ^and construction continues.

ranch with his dad, Louie, and

mom,

Teddy.

The

Smith family's

400

head of

cows

andcalves include

many champion

animals.

A

rare, polled black Limousin bull that recently brought $50,000 in a half-interest sale

roams

the Smith pas- ture.

The

bull'ssemen,representativeof theSmiths^'goaltoproduceafinelineof breeding stock, sells for

$400

per

am-

pule.

Cruising the ranch in Kevin's four- wheeldrivetruck,the futureoftheSmith Cattle

Company

seemsbright.

Good

pas- ture, fat cattle, well-placed fence, a sturdyfeedlot.But onceatopthehighest

By

Jeffrey

Tennant

pointofthe spread, aburgeoningculprit rears its head. Just to the east, visible through the pipes of the Smith grain- handling system, therooftops ofsubur- bia

seem

to

march

ever outward.

And

with the

coming

of the city,

some

five yearsago,problemspreviously

unknown

tothe Smithsbegan an

unwelcome

pes- tering.

"The

cityisslowly

moving

here," says Kevin, surveyingthe clutteredhorizonas thecoolColoradobreezeskims thehill- top. "Notlong ago, over 1,200 people a

month

were

moving

in.Stillalotofcon- structiongoingon everywhere."

Kevin sees tending^cattleinhisfuturebut

one

question

remains—where?

«r- ^"

"^

Photos byAuthor

^' _\ ^1 llifll

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m

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c-:r

s—

f

Thereasonforthegrowth? Jobs.

And

plenty of them.

An

atomic plant, a uranium mine and the national head- quarters for solarenergy researchallop- erate within a few miles of the Smith place. Alsocloseby isthe Coors brew-

ery, abusinessthat, according to Louie Smith, "employs half the

town

ofGol- den,

owns

themostlandinColorado and possesses ^the biggest natural gas field, coalmines and mostwaterrights."

Louie,aColoradostate

FFA

officerin 1950 and an

American

Farmer, bought the Smith farm

some

30 years ago.

"When

I firstbought,"herecalls, "I

was

in the dairy business. I bought this 17 acreswiththehouse,dairybarnandirri-

gated land for$27,000. I eventually got tired of milking cows, bought the pas- tureland and ^started in beef.

Now

land around here ^is going for as

much

as $5 per square foot." Considering 43,560 square feetperacre, that's $217,800 an acre forsuburban and commercial land.

MostoftheSmithfarmacreageisbetter suited for

cows

insteadof houses.None-

theless,arecent appraisalsetthevalueof theSmithranchat$350,000.

With suchanappreciationrateonthe land, the effect ofurban sprawlon land value

may seem

desirable. Butunless a farmer begins liquidating land, the ap- preciated land value brings expense in- steadofincome.

"Taxes20yearsagoontheproperty,"

remembersLouie, "were $375 peryear.

Now

^it's up to $2,500. It'll keep going up, too,andnothing

we

candowillstop

it.If

we

take thecattle off,taxes willbe evenhigher. Icanjustseeuspayingcity taxoncattle."

IntheU.S.tax structure,taxes usually rise sharply

when

land values increase.

Some

stateshavetakenlegislativeaction toeasetheburdenfeltbythelandowning farmer. InNorth Carolina,theFarmland Taxation Act

was

passed in 1973 after average land value peracre doubled in less than ten years.

Under

this legisla- tion, qualifying farmland

may

be as- sessedandtaxed on thebasis ofcurrent use value rather than market value of potential development.

Many

states are moving towarda tax breakforfarmland but

many

farmersremainfaced withris- ing taxes.

The

Smithsaren'taloneintheir plight.

Accordingtoareportissuedbythe

Urban Land

Institute (ULI), a Washington- based researchandeducational organiza- tion, the fastest growing areas in the UnitedStates since 1970have beensmall cities, towns and open country

com-

munitieslocatedoutsidelargemetropoli- tan centers.

The

Smiths, surroundedby growing DenversuburbssuchasWheat- ridge,

Arvada

and Golden, are one exampleof a family pressedbyprogres- siveland development.

December-January,1979-80

In the distance, the eastern hillside is coveredwith the clutterof

new

buildings, reason

enough

forKevinto

ponder

hisfamily'sfarming future.

"When

thecitystartedgrowing,"says Kevin, "more and

more

trespassers

came

to the farm. At night, drivers of all- terraintrucksandmotorcycles

would

cut our fences and drive over the pasture.

They

've evenjerked out

wooden

fence- postsandbuiltbonfires. I'vefoundbro- ken posts and wire where people have taken close-range target practice with their rifles.

And

the law can't catch them."

Although the intruders' visits have slacked off

—

Louie says it's because of the fuel shortage

—

^{the Smiths have re-}

solved to leave the farm. They're cur- rently searching for another place

—

a

place

where

their land will be un- molested, aplace where land expansion won't

mean

financial burden from city taxes.

"We've

got to find an irrigated farmfurtherout so

we

canraiseour

own

feedand expand," says Kevin.

Ifthe2,000-acreSmithranchissoldto residential developers or industry, the acreage will join the ranks of statistics

showing

decreasing

amounts

of land farmed in the United States.

The

U.S.

Departmentof Agriculture estimates 2.7 million acres of cropland are lost each year

—

^{500,000 to} urbanization and de- velopment of public facilities and 2.2 million to lesslabor-intensive uses such as grassandtrees. Creationthrough land

management

of1.3million acresof crop- land per yearoffsets the lossbutthenet resultis stilla negative 1.4milhon.

During 1950 to 1974,

USDA

studies

show

thaturbanareasgobbledup17mil- lionacresofruralland,

more

than athird

ofitcropland. Inthecaseofpastureland, such as the Smiths', land area has dropped20million acres or 3 percent.

A USDA

briefingpaperreports, "Stateand local governments have taken steps to bring order to urban development that infringes upon rural land. There iscon- siderabledoubtthey havesucceeded."

"Otherlocal

FFA members

arehaving the

same problem,"

shares Kevin.

Butchered cattle in the field, constant traffic, trespasserspullingguns on land-

owners

trying to protect their property

— ^problems

^occurring

^more

regularly as the citygrows.

"It all stems from disrespect," says Louie, a tone of aggravation in his words. "People

come

here from the cities,buyanacreofground andthinkit's

the wild west.

They

might have three kids, buy ahorse andacouple of dogs.

Before long, the kids are on yourprop- erty, the horse has eaten

down

the acre andis starvingtodeathandthedogsare chasing your cattle. Kevin

was

practi- cally raised in a barn, following his motherinherdailychores. Atleasthehas respect for other's property."

Although Kevin says his future is in cattle, he and his father both say their farm will soon be absorbed by the city.

Locatedontheonlyrural section thecity hasn't annexed, or incorporated to the citydomain, the Smithsgive their farm anothertwotofouryears.Until then, the Smiths will keep looking for another farm, encouraged

somewhat

by Louie's hopefulthought: "Eventuallythe sprawl shouldstop.It'sgottoend somewhere."

39

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