COLUMBUS (TDB) -- An Ohio soybean farmer who initially won $2,235 from the state after claiming street lights shining at night along a busy highway kept his crop from maturing won't be harvesting any taxpayer cash for damages after all. If the decision had stood, it could have set a precedent making government projects bigger targets for property rights defenders.
The Ohio Court of Claims reversed the soybean decision last month in a verdict that is beginning to draw attention this week from land-use and eminent-domain watchers from across the nation.
Patty Salkin, associate dean at Albany Law School in New York's capital, plowed into the Ohio soybean ruling on her legal blog Law Of The Land. She said the court of claims decided the state's traffic safety lights weren't an illegal taking of property under the Ohio Constitution.
When The Daily Bellwether examined the court files in Columbus, it learned that farmer Ronald L. Newell contended 7.18 acres of soybeans alongside U.S. 23 in Wyandot County didn't ripen for harvest along with the rest of his crop in October 2005. The Ohio Department of Transportation agreed that its street lights shining a night probably had some effect, but it did not accept financial responsibility. Newell won an administrative decision earlier this year.
But Judge J. Craig Wright tossed it out. He said the high-mast lights didn't create an uncompensated taking for the farmer's land.
"If the framers of the Ohio Constitution intended to require compensation whenever property was damaged by government activity, they could have provided so in unmistakable language. Many states have done so. Their constitutions provide in substance that private property shall not be taken for or damaged by public use without compensation . . The court finds that although plaintiff suffered a lost of a portion of his 2005 bean crop, he has failed to prove that he incurred a harm that differed in kind rather than degree from the general public . . and plaintiff's claim must fail."
Showing posts with label Soybean Crop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soybean Crop. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Ohio Farmers Warned: 15-foot Tall Ragweed Plants Resist Chems
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Brace yourself, Ohio. An onslaught of herbicide-resistant giant ragweed appears on the horizon. Bad news for hayfever sufferers. But worse for farmers who can lose up to 70% of a soybean crop when the weeds establish themselves and shade out shorter plants. Giant ragweed can grow up to 15 feet high on stalks as thick as broomsticks.
Farmers who have serious infestations are being advised to give up on soybeans and switch to corn. The rest of us may have to reach for hankies and Visine.
Technically, giant ragweed is Ambrosia trifida, which roughly translates as a three-lobed leaf that is food for gods. Researchers say it is hardly a feast for a divine table.
A picture is HERE, and Marc Loux, an Ohio State University weed scientists, is all over farm publications this winter warning giant ragweed was found in three central and southwest Ohio counties last year that has developed resistance to glyphosate, a chemical used to control weeds. Researchers are cautioning farmers to be careful how they use weed control products year after year. A weed called marestail was among the first to discover how to survive. Now it is giant ragweed, and three or four in a square yard can devastate crop yields.
Farmers have been getting word on control techniques HERE. Purdue University and Ohio State say the weed poses a serious problem:
"It can germinate from late March through July. It is one of the first summer annuals to emerge in the spring and is often present before crops are planted. Best solution -- plant corn in fields with a history of giant ragweed control problems. Use a combination of pre and post herbicides in corn. The post herbicide treatment should include herbicides other than glyphosate, to ensure control of glyphosate-resistant plants."
David Beaulieu, who writes a gardening column for About Landscaping, says the plant was once thought to have value as a pioneer-day pharmaceutical. But now it is seen as a pest.
"As with so many plants considered baneful in the 21st Century, giant ragweed was used medicinally by the denizens of tougher eras. But when one thinks of the plant nowadays, one thing comes to mind and that is 'ragweed allergy.' Together, common ragweed and giant ragweed account for most of the hay fever experienced in North America in the fall. Symptoms of ragweed allergy are sneezing and runny nose, along with itchy eyes."
Click HERE to learn more from Beaulieu.
So, once again Mother Nature has found a way to outwit humans. Bugs, bacteria and now weeds have learned how to adapt and survive. They show remarkable resilience in the face of technology. Ma Nature is nothing to sneeze at, as the ragweed invasion shows.
Farmers who have serious infestations are being advised to give up on soybeans and switch to corn. The rest of us may have to reach for hankies and Visine.
Technically, giant ragweed is Ambrosia trifida, which roughly translates as a three-lobed leaf that is food for gods. Researchers say it is hardly a feast for a divine table.
A picture is HERE, and Marc Loux, an Ohio State University weed scientists, is all over farm publications this winter warning giant ragweed was found in three central and southwest Ohio counties last year that has developed resistance to glyphosate, a chemical used to control weeds. Researchers are cautioning farmers to be careful how they use weed control products year after year. A weed called marestail was among the first to discover how to survive. Now it is giant ragweed, and three or four in a square yard can devastate crop yields.
Farmers have been getting word on control techniques HERE. Purdue University and Ohio State say the weed poses a serious problem:
"It can germinate from late March through July. It is one of the first summer annuals to emerge in the spring and is often present before crops are planted. Best solution -- plant corn in fields with a history of giant ragweed control problems. Use a combination of pre and post herbicides in corn. The post herbicide treatment should include herbicides other than glyphosate, to ensure control of glyphosate-resistant plants."
David Beaulieu, who writes a gardening column for About Landscaping, says the plant was once thought to have value as a pioneer-day pharmaceutical. But now it is seen as a pest.
"As with so many plants considered baneful in the 21st Century, giant ragweed was used medicinally by the denizens of tougher eras. But when one thinks of the plant nowadays, one thing comes to mind and that is 'ragweed allergy.' Together, common ragweed and giant ragweed account for most of the hay fever experienced in North America in the fall. Symptoms of ragweed allergy are sneezing and runny nose, along with itchy eyes."
Click HERE to learn more from Beaulieu.
So, once again Mother Nature has found a way to outwit humans. Bugs, bacteria and now weeds have learned how to adapt and survive. They show remarkable resilience in the face of technology. Ma Nature is nothing to sneeze at, as the ragweed invasion shows.
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