Alright fess up, which one of you homesteaders is this?

[Wayne02]

Shotgun-wielding man Tasered after manure dispute

(AP) – 1 hour ago

HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Police said a dispute over manure led to a man firing his shotgun near his neighbors and police later using a Taser to subdue him. The Saginaw News reported the man approached his neighbors in Huron County's Huron Township, about 110 miles north of Detroit, Saturday as they spread lime and manure on their farm.

Police said the 45-year-old fired his shotgun and then aimed the gun at the couple as they approached the fence in their tractor. Authorities said the disagreement over the placement of the manure had been ongoing.

Officers responded and a Taser was used to subdue the suspect, who was held in the county jail pending charges.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...tkhGQD9ANBDTO3

[Menglish]

Wasn't me!!!!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Lord have mercy, he wouldn't like to be in Norway in the Spring. The whole country smells of organic fertilizer! :banana02:

[ihedrick]

Ok, if they were spreading sludge it may have been me earlier this year! My neighbors spread that "carp" and it stunk! Not to mention the flies were horrible.

[ozark mike]

makes me laugh, the farm family most likely had owned and run that farm for generations and some yuppie moved next door and complains because the area don't smell as sweet as their intercity apartment or the suburb they came from...some people just don't belong in the country..........mike

[Prismseed]

Honestly manue is partially effective, but not optimum for soil nutrient management. A large majority nitrogen and other nutrients are lost in rain and wind erosion. The problem is some folks are just lazy. Some carbon based materials, a few months and half an inkling of what you are doing and manure can become sweet smelling composted earth.

Perhaps it is just local but around here when manure is spread it literally kicks up manure dust cloud, makes the smell permeate everything and sometimes causes a layer of manure dust to accumulate.

Granted I am partially aggravated by manure since my neighbor is inconsiderate and tends to set the pile that will be spread next season right out by the road. PU. For crying out loud drive an acre or two onto the property and dump the stuff, or pick a spot not right next to the neighbors.

Honestly some farmers are just inconsiderate neighbors. One neighbor of mine can't grow certain plants such as tomatoes in his garden since the herbicide sprayed on a nearby field catches a ride on the breeze and wipes his plants out.

[Windy in Kansas]

Homestead and farm manure have a far different odor than does confined feedlot manure. Chicken is worst, then hog, then cattle.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I guess the definition of *optimum* could be cost effective. The price of manure is usually right.

[celticfalcon]

not me. but im surprised i didnt here of this at work.

[uncle Will in In.]

Sounds like they both raised a STINK. <>Unk

[Wisconsin Ann]

Unk, you're in fine fettle this morning

Sounds like this may have been ongoing for quite some time. No argument is worth shooting over tho.

There are farmer's who just don't care about what the neighbors think or want...even farmer's who have lived next to each other for decades. Doesn't necessarily have to be a city guy. Ongoing feuds can get out of control easily.

It's possible the manure spreading farmer is spreading on an area that directly drains into an established fish pond or something.

Our dairy farmer neighbor spreads in the field near us maybe once a month. It's strong for a day...but it's part of living in the country. I suspect if a big feedlot thing moved in next to us we'd move, tho. fast.

[geo in mi]

I didn't spread any manure yesterday, but I did put some fishheads in the compost pile. Well....the neighbor had the Tru-Green truck out the day before and he spread 2,4,D on his yard......

In Michigan, you can fire a gun on your own property, if you are shooting at an identifiable, artificially constructed target, or if you are hunting game, lawfully, in season, and firing at least 450(I think) feet from an occupied outbuilding. If you cross your property line and go onto another person's property--sounds like he was--and fire a weapon and point it at someone, it's brandishing, and you're in a heap of trouble, boy..... Off to Jackson or Ionia wichya

I did buy two boxes of twelve gauge shells yesterday, though, with the thought of going down in the woods this afternoon to practice at a couple of artificially constructed targets down there. It's called enhancing the aura of your property lines.

Gheesh, the guy could've been more subtle...............

[Prismseed]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

I guess the definition of *optimum* could be cost effective. The price of manure is usually right.

Composting costing nothing more aside from a little more time, labor, and maybe a few gallons of fuel.

Chances are if a farmer has the equipment to spread manure on his fields he has the equipment to take the manure pile, mix in some rich carbon matter such as leaves or straw, and let the pile sit for a few months. After that it doesn't stink of manure anymore, I've personally practiced this method on a small scale in my back yard.

If the field has no nearby neighbors go ahead and spread manure, but if someone is next door show a little more consideration. Your business shouldn't be an unpaid person's misery.

The best discussions often provoke new thoughts and means to improve. I'll be approaching my neighbor about this concept. But thankfully local law only allows manure spreading on a field only once every four years, so that will give us time to kick around ideas.

[wy_white_wolf]

Originally Posted by Prismseed

....Granted I am partially aggravated by manure since my neighbor is inconsiderate and tends to set the pile that will be spread next season right out by the road. PU. For crying out loud drive an acre or two onto the property and dump the stuff, or pick a spot not right next to the neighbors.....

Sounds like a very good plan to keep people from moving in that aren't country mined. Put the pile right next to the road so anyone looking to buy would see it like a sore thumb. Thanks for the idea. I'm going to do that.

So tell me, did he start placing it there before or after you purchased your place?

[Prismseed]

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

Sounds like a very good plan to keep people from moving in that aren't country mined. Put the pile right next to the road so anyone looking to buy would see it like a sore thumb. Thanks for the idea. I'm going to do that.

So tell me, did he start placing it there before or after you purchased your place?

The sitting nitrogen will make a deadzone in the field Wy_w_w. Not to start an all out fight, but your idea of warding off neighbors strikes me as disrespectful, and territorial, though I admit it does sound effective in some ways warding off the city folk.

I have lived here over 7 years (and dwelled within the same 10 miles 25 of my 27 years of life) it is only in the past four the farmer began renting and working the land. While I am not a perfect human being I have never intentionally crossed the man and have never heard a complaint from him. This leaves me wondering why I should have a truck load of manure sitting less than 75 feet from my front door when he is working well over 40 acres of land. The other factor that makes it a little more bothersome is the manure is dropped off mid/late winter to just sit there until he spreads it in the spring. Mind I'm not going to aim a shotgun at him over the matter, but I will try to have a polite discussion that will hopefully result in some form of compromise or understanding. For example if the USDA or state law says he has to place the pile x far from y to prevent water contamination I can understand that, and by knowing that it makes living right next to a manure pile slightly more bearable.

[GoldenCityMuse]

Very nice response Prismseed.

Being a good neighbor goes a long way toward easing over conflict.

Ultimately, the land belongs to YHWH, we are simply stewards who will give an accounting to Him for our behavior.

What a farmer CAN do and what he OUGHT to do are not necessarily the same.
Likewise for the non-farming neighbor.

Do to others as you would like them to do to you is the golden phrase.