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Farmers Not Always Supportive Of Farmland Protection

Posted by: Christian Madera

23 May 2007 - 10:00am

Planners in Illinois are learning that farmers don't necessarily want their land protected from development -- as many are counting on cashing out the value of their land at some point.

"The conversion of cornfields to subdivisions is a familiar phenomenon by now, as growth booms in ever-larger rings around Chicago. It means new housing for growing families, increased tax revenues for local government.

But what does it mean for farmers?

Will County is a good place to look for an answer. It is the second-fastest growing Illinois county, experiencing a 33 percent population increase from 2000 to 2006, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

So one might expect an outcry from the farming community over the loss of land.

"When I started at Will County I thought I was going to be the champion for the farming community and the first angry phone call I got was from a farmer, [who] basically didn’t want his farmland protected," said Ty Warner, principle for comprehensive regional planning and former planning director at the Will County Land Use Department.

Urban-edge farmers have had to learn to take development in stride. Some have even come to depend on it as their retirement plan."

Full Story: Development is bad for open space, but is it good for farmers?
Source: Medill Reports, May 22, 2007
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