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 Sample Trade Magazine Article:
Compiled for Thrive, a quarterly magazine
produced by Syngenta Crop Protection for
agricultural retailers and distributors to
update them on Syngenta products and services,
and to provide them with the information they
need to succeed.
Purpose: Today’s growers have long been
committed to protecting the environment.
However, the constant pressure to increase food
production creates a juggling act for growers,
retailers and suppliers. This article focuses on
how retailers can guide their customers in
balancing the demand for more production while
promoting sustainability.
Project Earth: Implementing a Common Vision for
Sustainable Ag
By Darcy Maulsby
From population growth to limited land resources
to climate change, the coming decades will
challenge global agriculture and put demands on
the environment like never before. As a result,
growers will be looking to their retailers to
help them match environmentally sound products
and services with their production systems.
“Although every farmer and retailer thinks about
protecting the environment for all the reasons
we read about, it’s even more important for
those of us in farm country,” says John Hester,
owner/manager of Nichols Agriservice, LLC, in
Nichols, Iowa. “We live in the area, we drink
the water, we breathe the air, and so do our
children and grandchildren.”
Growers need trusted advisors like you to help
guide them through today’s complex business
decisions with environmentally sound crop
production. And so do you.
“I need people I can trust, too, so I speak with
my Syngenta representatives almost every day,”
Hester says. “They understand my needs and the
issues affecting growers in my area.”
With long-term strategies such as ongoing
investments in research, a strong commitment to
sustainable agriculture and a Customer Center
staffed by Ph.D.s with years of experience,
Syngenta maintains a history of environmentally
friendly solutions for its retail partners and
growers, says Jennifer Shaw, director of
stewardship for Syngenta. “Environmental
sustainability is not a fad that’s going away.
It can be challenging to help growers make
decisions that promote high yields and, at the
same time, fit with environmental
sustainability, but society demands the right
balance.”
Making Sustainable Commitments
This issue is reflected in the growing number of
companies that are making a renewed commitment
to sustainability. For example, in May of 2008,
the H. J. Heinz Company announced a goal to
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20
percent by 2015 through practices such as using
potato peels to generate energy and reducing
packaging. For its agriculture division, the
company has set specific goals of reducing its
carbon footprint and water usage by 15 percent
each, and improving yields by 5 percent with
hybrid tomato seeds that require less water,
fertilizer, pesticides and fuel to harvest.
Syngenta is part of an effort by the Keystone
Center, a nonprofit organization that
specializes in facilitating scientific and
policy outcomes, to establish appropriate
sustainability metrics that make sense for
production agriculture. The group has agreed to
the foundational principles that global food
demands, grower needs and desirable land-use
patterns all require intensification of
agriculture, and that increased production must
be accomplished in a manner that does not
negatively affect, and actually improves,
overall environmental and societal outcomes.
Keeping Growers Informed
Making this goal a reality starts with a
commitment to keep growers informed in today’s
rapidly changing ag industry. As part of its
conservation tillage practices, Wisconsin’s
Landmark Services Cooperative, the Agricultural
Retailers Association’s 2007 Ag Retailer of the
Year, continues to expand its investments in
root zone banding (RZB) operations.
“Here we deep place nitrogen, potassium and
phosphorus while doing zone tillage,” says Jim
Shelton, agronomy division manager, who notes
that Landmark has also expanded its precision ag
grid sampling and variable rate technology (VRT)
applications in the past five years. “When the
grower no-till plants back into the row where we
placed the nutrients, this greatly reduces soil
erosion while maintaining yields comparable to
conventional practices.”
Nichols Ag hosts meetings throughout the year to
provide the latest information on conservation
tillage, nitrogen management and other timely
topics. “Farmers don’t want to put on more
fertilizer or crop protection products than
their crop needs, especially with the price of
today’s inputs,” says Hester, who invites
university extension specialists, crop scouts
and other experts to speak. “While farmers want
to do everything they can to protect the
environment, they want scientific facts, not
fiction, to guide their decisions.”
That’s where Syngenta can help, says Shaw, who
notes that the company is a long-time supporter
of many research-based, field-tested projects,
including the Delta Farmers Advocating Resource
Management (F.A.R.M.). Focused on the
Yazoo-Mississippi Delta region, Delta F.A.R.M.
helps implement environmental stewardship best
practices in agriculture to improve and protect
water quality and other natural resources. (See
related article, page 24.)
Syngenta also has partnered with a number of
organizations to promote environmental
stewardship, including California’s Coalition
for Urban/Rural Environmental Stewardship
(CURES). This group supports educational efforts
for agricultural and urban communities that are
focusing on the proper and judicious use of pest
control products. In the Midwest, Syngenta has
supported the Illinois Buffer Partnership, which
showcases the voluntary efforts of farmers and
landowners in the planting, maintenance and
enhancement of conservation buffers to improve
water quality, control soil erosion and increase
wildlife habitat.
“These partnerships help provide growers and
retailers with the facts on the best practices
that will work for their situation,” Shaw says.
“Furthermore, they highlight how environmental
stewardship can make great business sense by
gaining operational efficiencies and knocking
down barriers that impact freedom to operate.”
Applying the Lessons Learned
Retailers can play a key role in helping growers
focus on sustainability, Shaw notes. Although
retailers can’t control the decisions a grower
ultimately makes, they can explain how specific
crop protection products fit into production
systems like conservation tillage or no-till,
provide tips on reducing spray drift, and offer
recycling or refilling services for crop
protection packages.
“Our records show that in many cases, nearly 60
percent of all nutrients applied have either
been at the wrong rate or in the wrong place,”
says Shelton, who notes that Syngenta offers a
great portfolio of crop protection products that
allow customers to utilize reduced or no-till in
their farming operations. “With today’s
high-priced plant food, a grower who applies
just 8 percent of his or her nutrients in the
wrong place has just paid for a ‘full-boat’
GPS/VRT program.”
And retailers can do more than just advise.
Nichols Ag, for example, takes empty crop
protection containers, both from the company and
from area farmers, to a collection point for
recycling.
Producers appreciate these resources, says Terry
Cain, a grower from Kirkpatrick, Ind. As a
committed steward of the land, Cain believes it
is possible to protect the environment and be a
productive grower. “We have to make sure that we
growers and the companies that provide products
and services to us are being good environmental
citizens,” says Cain, who scouts his fields
regularly and makes timely applications if
disease is present.
Although government agencies such as the Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can assist
growers with their efforts to protect the
environment, there’s no substitute for a
retailer who understands how farmers think,
knows their soils and farming practices, and can
offer valuable input beyond the standard advice
to follow product label instructions, Hester
says. Landmark, for example, is involved with
nutrient management planning (NMP) for its
farmers who wish to expand their livestock
operations. “We have a number of dedicated staff
who are highly qualified to do comprehensive
NMP, a time-consuming process that cannot be
done overnight,” Shelton says.
As interest in environmental sustainability
continues to grow, it’s important for retailers
to embrace these changes and view them as
opportunities rather than threats, Shaw adds.
“Ultimately, the goal is to promote products
that benefit growers without harming the natural
resources that they and others rely on.”
SIDEBAR
Micro-Encapsulation Benefits Crops, Growers and
the Environment
Often it’s the small details that make a big
difference in protecting the environment and
overcoming challenges. More than 20 years ago,
Syngenta made tremendous technological strides
in the control of unwanted insect pests with
lambda-cyhalothrin, the active ingredient in
Warrior II with Zeon Technology® insecticide.
Since the original formulation was an
emulsifiable concentrate, the pyrethroid
insecticide chemistry was dissolved in solvents.
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
highlighted toxicological concerns regarding
solvents, Syngenta researchers found new ways to
reduce the amount of solvents in the company’s
crop protection products.
Since 1995, Syngenta has relied on
micro-encapsulation technology. Thirty of these
tiny capsules, which could be compared to the
gel caps that contain over-the-counter
medications, can fit within the diameter of a
human hair, says Roy Boykin, technical brand
manager, insecticides, for Syngenta. One of the
challenges of micro-encapsulation, however, is
the speed of release of the crop protection
product contained inside.
“Since the speed of release dictates the speed
of knockdown, Syngenta has patented new
technology that allows a speedy release of the
active ingredients in our micro-encapsulated
products,” Boykin says. “This unique Zeon
Technology® allows growers to use the products
to deliver performance equal to an emulsifiable
concentrate, but it also permits a reduction in
solvents and in handler and non-target
exposure.”
This spirit of innovation remains a priority for
Syngenta. “We’re constantly looking for new ways
to improve product efficacy while protecting the
user and the environment,” Boykin concludes.
Sample Trade Magazine Article:
Tree Care Industry Magazine, "Assessing and
Treating Flood-Damaged Trees"
Purpose: technical article written for a trade
publication targeted at arborists, urban
foresters, landscapers, golf course
superintendents, and property managers
.
Assessing and Treating Flood-Damaged Trees
By Darcy Maulsby
Lime green tape wrapped around utility poles
along many main streets in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
marks the height of the water from last year’s
massive flooding that damaged and destroyed
countless trees. In some places, the tape is as
high as 25 feet, serving as a stark reminder of
Friday, June 13, when the Cedar River crested
and inundated hundreds of tree-lined city
blocks, spreading well beyond the 500-year
floodplain and forcing the evacuation of
thousands of residents. More than a year later,
however, trees remain one of the untold stories
of this worst natural disaster in Cedar Rapids’
history.
As the river flooded out a mile wide in some
areas, trees contended with high concentrations
of toxins in the waterlogged soil. “When
basements and garages flood, gasoline cans, used
oil, acid leached from batteries and antifreeze
from submerged vehicles can enter the water
that’s covering tree roots,” said Brian Jay,
district manager for Davey Tree & Shrub Care, a
Tree Care Industry Association accredited firm
that has been assessing flood damaged trees in
Iowa City, Iowa, south of Cedar Rapids. “When
this toxin-tainted water stands for weeks at a
time and ‘strangles’ the tree by cutting off
oxygen to the roots, there’s a total change in
the tree as root tissue is lost.”
In addition, flood scum that caked on leaves
blocked sunlight, essentially suffocating the
trees by preventing them from photosynthesizing.
In some cases, trees were completed washed out
of their planting holes, or they were knocked
down by debris. To make matters worse, a
bitterly cold winter finished off more trees
already weakened by the flood. Species such as
oak, birch and pine were among the hardest hit.
When the heavy equipment moved in to clean up
when the waters finally receded after several
weeks, soil compaction further added to the
trees’ woes, and some trees were damaged beyond
repair. “Many Iowa communities, included by
Cedar Rapids, that were affected by last year’s
disasters are still in the basic recovery
process,” said Karen Brook, a program manager
and field coorinator with the non-profit Trees
Forever organization based in Marion, Iowa.
Diagnosing post-flood damage
How much damage a tree sustains during a flood
depends on a variety of factors, said Dr. Jesse
Randall, an Iowa State University (ISU)
Extension forester, who listed the following
considerations:
• What species is the tree? In the Midwest, for
example, silver maples, ash, cottonwood and
locust trees—species that evolved in
floodplains—can survive better during flood
conditions and recover much more quickly than
upland trees like oak and hickory, which are
very sensitive to flooding.
• How fast did the flood water came up, and how
long did it stay? Flash floods, where the water
rises and falls in a matter of hours, are much
less damaging to trees than longer-term floods,
where the water rises slowly and lasts for days
or weeks.
• Was the tree stressed before the flood? A
strong, healthy tree will have a much better
chance of survival than a tree that was weakened
before the waters rose.
Flooding can impair a tree’s defense mechanisms
and trigger biochemical responses that release
carbohydrates, sugars and other nutrients which
seem to invite insect and fungal pathogen
attack, added Jeff Iles, an ISU Extension
horticulturist. A group of fungi called the
water molds, including Phytopthora and Pythium,
can attack trees only when the soil is saturated
or nearly saturated. Fungal spores swim through
the soil water and invade the tree, causing the
roots or crown to turn brown and become wet and
decayed. The first indication of damage may be
yellowing or falling leaves, dieback of limbs,
or failure to leaf-out in the spring. Another
group of fungi causes cankers on branches and
trunks of weakened or stressed trees.
Both water molds and canker fungi are most
damaging to flood-intolerant tree species
planted on poorly drained, clay soils or sites
flooded for prolonged periods. Their effects may
become apparent immediately following the flood
or may appear several years later.
Stem-boring insects such as phloem borers and
wood borers are major insects of concern
following a flood, Iles said. Phloem borers
damage portions of the tree responsible for food
and water transport. Wood borers feed within the
wood of tree stems and branches, causing them to
weaken and break during ice, wind or snow
storms.
Assessing treatment options
Minimizing additional stresses or injuries
should be a priority on high-value trees for one
to three years after flooding to reduce increase
the trees’ vigor, reduce the chance of attack by
insects and allow the maximum chance for natural
recovery, said Iles, who added that very little
is known about the effects of long-term flooding
during the growing season on many ornamental
tree species.
Vertical mulching with an air spade can offer an
effective way to get more oxygen to tree roots,
said John Griffiths, director of plant health
care for Wright Outdoor Solutions in West Des
Moines, Iowa. Some arborists fill the holes with
pea gravel, while other arborists leave the
holes open. Griffiths, a board-certified master
arborist and member of the American Society of
Consulting Arborists, has tried both options and
can’t see that one method is better than the
other. One thing that won’t help flood-damaged
trees very much is fertilization, he added.
“Some people really promote this, but in our
experience, it’s just a bandage for a much
bigger problem.”
Trees developing substantial dieback and decline
symptoms should be removed from the landscape
immediately. While dead or severely cankered
branches should be removed as soon as possible,
other corrective pruning should be delayed until
the late dormant season. It’s important to keep
an eye on flood-damaged trees for a period of
years, said Griffiths, noted that arborists
dealt with flood-damaged trees more than six
years after the massive floods of 1993 inundated
central Iowa. If a tree starts to show signs of
decay and there are targets nearby, such as a
sidewalk or playground, it’s time to talk to the
client about tree removal.
“While nothing is black and white when assessing
flood damage to trees, my job is to look at the
puzzle, try to put the pieces together and give
the client all the information I can to help
them make the best decision,” Griffiths said.
Planting hope
So far, Trees Forever has raised more than
$50,000 to help fund grants and provide
technical assistance for Midwest communities
damaged by the flooding and the devastating
tornados that hit parts of eastern Iowa shortly
before the flood.
“There’s a huge need for tree replanting, and we
want to help people come together, re-green
their communities and revitalize their
neighborhoods,” Brook said.
The success of this strategy was clearly visible
than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005,
where early tree and flower plantings in
destroyed neighborhoods boosted morale. In Cedar
Rapids, tree replanting is occurring from the
Helen Nassif YMCA and Hayes Park to the Taylor
School, an elementary school in the heart of the
city that was closed for the 2008-2009 school
year due to flood damage.
As the replanting proceeds, Trees Forever is
encouraging residents to focus on species
diversity, from Kentucky coffee trees to London
plane trees to Freeman maples, and consider
trees that are appropriate for low-lying areas
where flooding could occur again. It pays to
re-evaluate appropriate tree choices, especially
since the risk of emerald ash borer has made a
once-popular, hardy tree choice a vulnerable
option, Jay said. “While the likelihood of a
flood of this scale happening again may not be
high, it can make sense to plant bald cypress,
swamp oak, cottonwoods or silver maples in
wetter soils,” he noted.
As always, limiting a tree’s risk exposure is an
important part of successful tree care, added
Jay, who classifies flood damage in the same
category as drought, due to its impact on plant
health. “While a flash flood is nothing to a
tree, it takes 10 to 12 years to rejuvenate a
tree’s root system to the point where it was
before a major flood.”
SIDEBAR
Dealing with Disaster:
Arborist Offers Lessons from the Flood
Whether a community is devastated by a flood,
tornado, hurricane or other disaster, a
professional arborist can play a key role in
helping residents recover.
“This is the time to build trust, not make a
fast buck,” said Kyle Palmer, president and CEO
of Palmer’s Tree Services, LLC, a Manchester,
Iowa, company that is helping eastern Iowa
clients recover after the 2008 floods.
“Unfortunately in Iowa, anyone with a chainsaw
can call himself an arborist, and when there’s a
disaster, these people come out of the woodwork.
As tree care professionals, however, we have the
ability to be the varmint or the savior.”
Palmer offers these top five tips to serve
clients more effectively:
1. Watch and wait. In a flood, tree roots will
start to weaken due to the saturation of the
ground, and the pressure of the flood water will
also push on the tree roots. Check a tree’s root
structure and look for raised turf to spot signs
of partial uproots. While some unscrupulous
“tree services” have been telling eastern Iowa
clients that all these trees must be cut down
immediately, removal isn’t the always the
solution, Palmer said. “Although we’ll see
flood-related cases of tree deaths in the next
few years, you don’t have to take down a tree
down right away if there’s no immediate danger.
People who have been through a disaster have
already suffered many losses, and removing their
tree right away can be one more painful loss.
Why not wait and see what happens to the tree?
Then determine if removal is the only solution.”
2. Educate the public. Since many people have
strong emotional attachments to their trees,
give clients aid and advice first. Determine the
tree species, take soil samples and research
what options might be available to help the
tree, if immediate removal is not required.
“Clients will think the world of an arborist who
tries to help them save their tree, and they
will tell others, which is a definite business
booster,” Palmer said.
3. Take a little extra time. While a disaster
creates a massive workload for arborists, avoid
the temptation to rush through each job.
Instead, invest the time to communicate clearly
each client, answer his or her questions and
build trust. “People who have suffered losses in
a disaster are very vulnerable, so take the
extra time to comfort them and assure them that
you’re there to help,” Palmer said.
4. Protect yourself and your clients. A simple
contract will protect both the arborist and the
client, who may not think clearly in the wake of
a disaster. When a tree fell on a man’s house,
for example, the client immediately wanted the
arborist to remove the tree, Palmer said. A few
days later, however, the man went to the local
hardware store and figured out how much it would
have cost him to rent the equipment needed to
remove the tree. “When the total was half of
what the arborist charged, the man was angry
because he felt like he had been ripped off,
even though he didn’t bother to count the cost
of the arborist’s labor and other expenses,”
Palmer said. “That’s why you should always get
an agreement in writing.”
5. Always be ready to help. When tornadoes hit
various communities near Palmer’s area in 2008,he helped clear the streets for no charge before
the winds had completely died down. This allowed
the power company crews and rescue workers to
provide much-needed aid more quickly. “It’s one
more way professional arborists can set
themselves apart and provide a valuable
service,” he said.
Sample Trade Magazine Article: Pork
Magazine "Eminent Domain Sparks Property Rights
Debate"
Purpose:
technical article written for the business
magazine targeted at professional pork
producers.
Eminent Domain Sparks Property Rights Debate
By Darcy Maulsby
If a city or a development corporation wants to
seize your land and turn it into a shopping mall
or office park, could you stop them? The
Connecticut eminent domain case Kelo v. City of
New London that made headlines nationwide this
past summer has raised serious questions about
private property ownership for rural landowners.
While some ag-law experts feel the case could
prove detrimental for agriculture, others don’t
see the decision as a major threat.
“There’s a big reason to be worried about this,
and agricultural land is particularly
vulnerable,” says Julie Anna Potts, general
counsel for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The case marks the first time the U.S. Supreme
Court has used economic revitalization as a
reason to use eminent domain, notes Eldon
McAfee, legal counsel for the Iowa Pork
Producers Association. “The Court broadened the
definition of public use. There’s concern now
that pork producers can be lumped in with all
private property owners whose property can be
taken for economic development. My experience
has been that communities rarely see agriculture
as economic development.”
When the city of New London, Conn., presented a
plan to revitalize its economy, officials
proposed using eminent domain to take several
homeowners’ properties, even though the
properties themselves were not blighted nor in
poor condition. (See the sidebar for more
details.)
In a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled
that local governments could seize property for
public use even if the sole purpose is for
economic development.
“A lot of people have tried to make political
hay out of this issue, but from my perspective
there isn’t anything unique about the ruling,”
says Neil Hamilton, director of the Agricultural
Law Center at Drake University in Des Moines,
Iowa. “The Supreme Court followed precedence and
made it clear that eminent-domain issues involve
state property law.”
Earlier cases redefine the standards
The U.S. Constitution’s 5th Amendment contains
the eminent-domain clause, which states, “…nor
shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation.” Kelo v. City of New
London represented the first time in more than
20 years that the Supreme Court agreed to hear a
case involving the question of whether a public
use exists when private property is condemned
and transferred to private developers, says
Roger McEowen, an associate professor of
agricultural law at Iowa State University.
He cites two cases that illustrate the Court’s
willingness to expansively define “public use.”
In 1954’s Berman v. Parker, the Court upheld the
District of Columbia’s use of eminent domain to
develop slum areas for possible sale to private
interests. “The purpose of the act in question
was to improve areas of Washington, D.C., that
were ‘injurious to the public’s health, safety,
morals and welfare’,” McEowen says. This case
established a precedent for eminent domain being
applied beyond a public road or park, adds
McAfee. “In Justice O’Connor’s dissent on Kelo
v. City of New London, however, she argued that
the justification for eminent domain wasn’t as
strong as in the 1954 case, because the New
London case did not involve a blighted area with
public-health issues.”
In 1984’s Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff,
the Court upheld Hawaii’s use of eminent domain
to take titles from landlords to reduce the
concentration of land ownership resulting from a
historic system of land oligopoly. The Supreme
Court’s opinion confirmed a state’s ability to
use eminent-domain power to transfer property
outright to a private party, so long as it’s
related to a “conceivable public purpose,”
McEowen says.
“People are calling the Kelo v. City of New
London decision outrageous, but it’s 51 years
too late to be saying those things,” McEowen
adds. “The decision is based on precedence. I
don’t agree with the opinion because I think
it’s wrong, but the Court was wrong in 1954,
too.”
Taking action in agriculture
Agricultural producers who might feel the
effects of the Supreme Court’s recent decision
the most are those already on the fringe of
urban sprawl, agree ag law experts. “Since most
pork producers are located in rural areas where
eminent-domain use has been fairly rare, the
ones who would likely be most affected are those
on the edges of more urban areas,” says Rich
Schwartz, the National Pork Producers Council’s
legal counsel.
Experts do disagree about the
“just-compensation” component of the
eminent-domain law, which says property owners
must be paid a fair price if their land is
seized. “This has always been problematic,
because agricultural land doesn’t always get
fair compensation,” says Potts.
McEowen takes a different viewpoint. “Cities
don’t want to waste a lot of money on lawyers’
fees, so I think farmers will get pretty much
what their property is worth if it’s taken
through eminent domain.”
While there’s always a chance a community could
try to use eminent domain to drive out a
neighboring pork production unit, it would be a
precedent-setting case, Schwartz adds.
“Theoretically a city could argue that a
shopping mall or office complex could be more
valuable from a tax standpoint, but I think it’s
unlikely we’ll see eminent domain used in this
way. If it were, it would give the courts a lot
of trouble.”
The Supreme Court won’t allow local governments
to exercise eminent domain based on a pretext,
AFBF’s Potts adds. “This means a community can’t
use eminent domain against a swine farm because
it’s not viewed as a good neighbor. However,
there’s no real check on this. All a community
has to do is use a development plan that
documents how eminent domain will benefit the
community, which can include bringing new jobs
to the area and generating more tax revenues.”
McEowen doesn’t believe pork producers should
spend much time calculating how much their
operation contributes to the local tax base.
Instead, he urges producers to get involved when
developers propose new plans in their area.
“Attend local board meetings, detail your
concerns, and show that there may be a better
way for the community to manage this
development.”
Being proactive is the key, Drake’s Hamilton
adds. “Producers need to be involved in the
land-use planning and decision-making process
all along. By the time you get a notice that
your land will be taken, the plan has been in
the works for years. I think the courts will
hold it against you if you didn’t get involved
before then.”
Working through lawmakers
Don’t overlook the legislative process, either.
“The real fight now is to convince your state
legislature to restrict your state’s use of
eminent domain,” Potts says. “I urge producers
to support ag groups that will lobby
legislatures to protect agriculture.”
The Supreme Court emphasized that state law
authorized the Connecticut eminent-domain case,
McAfee notes. “In Iowa we’ve had a law since
1999 that protects agriculture from being
condemned for development purposes.” Section
6A.21 of the Iowa Code states, “Public use or
public purpose or public improvement does not
include the authority to condemn agricultural
land for private development purposes unless the
owner of the agricultural land consents to the
condemnation.”
Federal lawmakers also are taking action in
response to the Kelo decision. Chairman of the
House Agriculture Committee Bob Goodlatte
(R-Va.) joined Representatives Henry Bonilla
(R-Texas) and Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D.) in late
July to introduce the Strengthening the
Ownership of Private Property Act.
“This appalling [court] decision strikes a
serious blow to the core values of our nation
and has far-reaching implications,” Goodlatte
said in a statement. “In defining public use so
expansively, the Court erased any protection of
private property as understood by our nation’s
founders.”
The STOPP Act will prevent governments from
taking property from one private party and
giving it to another private party. When abuses
occur, the STOPP Act will prevent localities and
states from receiving federal economic
assistance on all economic-development projects,
not just those upon which abuses occur. The
legislation also will make state and local
governments subject to the Uniform Relocation
Act, which provides fair-market value and moving
expenses for citizens relocated by abuses.
In the end, producers need to realize that
eminent domain can be used in more ways than
one, and some options may prove beneficial.
“Agriculture could find itself on the other end
of the table, for example this could occur if
eminent domain is used to acquire land for
agricultural development areas,” Hamilton says.
.
Setting Eminent Domain in Motion
Kelo v. City of New London dates back to 1998,
when the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced
it would develop a $300-million waterfront
global research facility in New London, Conn.
Local planners hoped Pfizer would draw new
businesses to the area and boost the area’s
economic rejuvenation.
As a result, the city created a private
development corporation to revitalize areas
around the new facility and granted the
corporation eminent-domain powers. The
corporation then filed proceedings against the
plaintiffs (including homeowner Susette Kelo) in
an attempt to condemn their homes, some of which
had been in families for more than a century.
The property would be used to create an office
park, a parking lot and a new public park.
In response, the homeowners initiated a civil
action, charging that the city’s delegation of
its eminent-domain power to a private entity was
unconstitutional.
“The Connecticut Supreme Court held that
economic development was a constitutionally
valid public use because the legislature had
determined that taking the land was reasonably
necessary to implement a development plan that
increased tax revenue, created jobs and improved
the local economy,” says Roger McEowen, Iowa
State University agricultural law associate
professor.
In late June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld
the ruling in a narrow 5 to 4 decision, stating
that the city’s use of eminent domain qualified
as a public use.
Darcy
Maulsby | Darcy Maulsby & Co. | 1735 340th St. |
Lake City, IA 51449 515-971-4415 |
darcy@darcymaulsby.com
|