New highway’s inconvenience costly, dairy owner says

The new U.S. 59 runs through through the heart of Raymond Rumford’s dairy farm north of Ottawa.

The new highway took about 60 acres of some of his best crop land, leaving a couple of A-shaped fields orphaned from the rest of Rumford’s farm.

To get to those areas, he has to detour more than two miles. In farm machinery, that can take a long time.

“When you dairy, every minute counts,” Rumford said.  “Every minute running on the road doesn’t pay you anything.”

The Kansas Department of Transportation paid the Rumfords for the land that was taken.

But what KDOT doesn’t pay for is the land’s true worth, especially because it was close to the dairy operation, he said.

Nor does it pay for the inconvenience caused by the orphaned acreage and getting to them, he said.

The orphans, each about 10 acres, are hardly worth farming any more, he said. And because of their size and location, no one else is willing to buy them, he said.

Rumford used the KDOT money to buy new land, but it was a long way from the farm, which adds to the time lost getting to it, he said.

“You’re a loser for life,” he said.

“... It’s good for the city people using the highway, but it’s not so good for the country people.”