LETTERS: OUR FARM ISN'T FOR SALE

To the editor:

This is my view of the lake. We are landowners. We would be put out of business if this lake were to be.

To make a plain and simple statement, our land is not on the market. How could you use the term "fair market value" when it isn't on the market? In order for a person to make a deal, there has to be a seller and a buyer. Without a seller, you can't buy. So then you decide to use eminent domain. This is to force a person to sell something that they don't want to sell.

A farmer is a businessman or woman. We are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, holidays and all. Have you ever heard of so much dedication from any other business? It is a family business. We are all equal in making decisions and working together. Do you know any other business doing this? When you buy out any business, you don't just buy inventory. You buy the business.

If I were to sell my property, I would want to set my own price. I would not want someone else telling me what it is worth.

You buy out a farmer, you buy his business, his home, his heritage and his pride. Can you put a price on that? I can't.

A farmer is a steward of the land. Have you ever smelled a plowed field in the spring? Have you ever watched a new calf with its mother? Have you ever watched a new-hatched quail covey in the springtime? Have you ever worked until you dropped and smiled with pride when you saw what you had accomplished that day and looked forward to another day as meaningful?

If you haven't experienced these things, then you have no idea what a farmer is.

Why should we give up our way of life because a few persons think they know what is best? I don't think so. Find yourself another place to play. I like it where we are, and I want to keep it.

MARY JOHNSON

Millersville