Comment EI-24739
Received or sent (printed as 7/13/2016)
This railroad project would have a major negative impact to my farming operation and livelihood. I am concerned about farm drainage and water control. My fields have been tiled and running a railroad over the tile will destroy it. What was once one drainage systems will become two, the high cost of returning my fields to the state they were at before the railroad will be forced on me alone. I have a large cattle pasture that runs along a creek; the railroad would cut this in half. The pasture connects two building sites for the cattle and allows for over 100 head of cattle. If the site were to be cut in half the additional cost of moving cattle from one farm to the other will be forced on me. The two halves would not be able to support the same number of cattle as the large pasture, the loss of profitability would be for me to bare alone. The railroad would run across our driveway to a farm building site and my grandson’s house. How will we be able to access this location? Will the railroad build us a personal overpass for our driveway? Will they have us cross the tracks at grade at our own peril? Will they remove our access to the location and force us to cross the creek like they did back in the 1890’s. We have made several investments to the grain storage buildings that are at this location and we see over 200 loaded semi trucks to the location per year. We need a road to this location that can handle the 80,000lbs trucks and heavier farm equipment without question; like we have now, before the railroad would destroy it. I have 1.5 miles of land that is being dissected by this proposed railroad. This would cause additional expenses to my farming operation by forcing me to move my equipment over the road to farm what I am able to farm as one field currently. This is an additional fuel and time cost that I will have to pay out of pocket without reimbursement every year and my son, grandson, and future descendants will have to continue paying forever. A field that this railroad would bisect is rotationally used for seed corn production. This is a very delicate process and it is difficult to find land that is suitable for seed corn production. Seed corn can be more profitable than regular corn production and this is our only location for producing seed corn. If the railroad runs through that field the seed company may not allow us to grow seed corn for them and this would be a loss of income for us. I am concerned about weed control along the right of way for the railroad. We have been incredibly diligent about eradicating troublesome weeds in our fields such as burr cucumber. If the railroad were to be irresponsible with their weed control we could see a resurgence of this devastating weed and as neighboring landowners we would only be able to manage the weeds on our property without being able to solve the issue on the absentee railroad. This would cause additional cost to our farming operation every year without compensation. The railroad will decrease the value of my land. There is no question of this. The land will only be used as farmland for the next 100 years at least. No farmer would spend good money for a bisected field and wouldn’t care the least bit if it had rail access or not. While I have no intention of selling my land this decrease in land value hurts my business’s growth potential and debt/asset ratio which any modern business owner has to be aware of. The land could be used as collateral to borrow against for business expansion purposes and this railroad would greatly reduce my ability to do that. This railroad would run next to my home which is on my family’s centennial farm. My grandfather lived here and this farm has been certified as being in the family for 144 years. By the time this study is completed it could be 150 years in my family. The department of agriculture certified our farm in it’s effort to show that the state needs and recognizes all that agriculture does for it. To allow a centennial farm to mean nothing is to turn our backs on our history and our future. In summation the proposed railroad project will create additional expense for my farming operation every year forever. This cost will be paid by only me and I will receive no compensation for this nor will my descendants as they farm this land after me. My farming operation will never be as good as it is without a railroad running through it. The railroad would limit my ability to earn a livelihood not just in the year it would be built but for the rest of my life.
Submitted by: Russel Jorstad · Morris, Illinois
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-35952/comment/EI-24739 · back to the docket sheet