Farming in sprawl
By Holly Hollenbeck and James Fashing

Suburban sprawl in Missouri is only moderate in comparison to other states across the nation. But the occurrence of sprawl outside the state's major cities is changing not only the land but also the lifestyles of both the suburban and rural residents.

Rich Merz looks up and down the rows of what used to be his dad's farmland. But instead of rows of corn or soybeans that used to line his dad's fields, he now sees rows and rows of houses. Merz is the last member of his farm family to own farmland outside of Wentzville, Mo., a town on I-70 just west of St. Louis.

As he drives from one subdivision to another, he points out where each member of his family used to farm. "That there was my uncle's ground," he said. "My grandfather used to farm over there, and my dad's land used to be right here."

Merz only has 90 acres of farmland left in the Wentzville area. He lost 80 acres he used to rent this past year when his landlord decided to sell the land to make room for 700 new apartments.

"There's just nothing left to farm," said Merz. "We had an ideal situation here until the past five years." Now a new subdivision is going up across the road from his 90 acres where he plans to plant corn this season.

Not alone
Merz is just one of many farmers who have found themselves in similar situations. Even though farmland in Missouri is only being developed at a moderate rate compared to other states, it's a big issue for the farm families development does affect.

Robert Engelmeyer isn't sure what the future holds for his farm in what used to be the small town of Flint Hill, just north of Wentzville. When you're out on the 650 acres he farms, it's hard to see that suburban sprawl is endangering his operation until you drive down the road about a mile or two. A new subdivision that popped up has doubled the small town's population. He, too, has lost some land to development.

"I'm limited when it comes to controlling what happens to the future of this farm," said Engelmeyer. "I rent the majority of my land, so I go year to year." He said he and his family have been luckier than others because they are so close to the St. Charles County line and a few miles from I-70. "We may be OK for a little while because of that," he said.

Similar stories can be found on the west side of the state. Junior Dean is farming several tracts of his family's ground for the last time this season around the Kansas City suburb of Raymore. His family sold some land in the city limits and will be able to crop the front part while the back is built up this year.

"We still have farmland in and outside of town, enough for us to farm for a while," he said. "But my brothers and I might have to do something else part-time five to 10 years down the road, depending on how things go."

The Dean farm ground inside the city limits is surrounded by strip malls and subdivisions on all sides. Their machine shed and bins are behind a convenience store and a restaurant. Across the street is an apartment complex.

Difficulties
Traffic has made farming more difficult for all of these producers for the past few years.

Merz used to live on a gravel road; now the road that runs in front of his parent's house is a blacktop with constant traffic. "It's rush hour all day," he said. "People, concrete and asphalt are everywhere."

Engelmeyer said increased traffic on his farm has made moving farm equipment dangerous on the hilly, curvy roads. "From year to year the traffic doubles," he said. "People use this road to cut through to get to St. Louis, and they drive really fast."

He no longer allows his 16-year-old son to move equipment on their road. It's too dangerous. He even worries for his own safety. "I try to move equipment when I know traffic will be lower," he said. "But you always seem to be in the way of someone. I lose lots of time waiting for traffic to slow down before I move; sometimes I just wait until the next day."

"For me, the biggest challenge is traffic," said Dean. "I have to deal with cars everywhere and most of the drivers don't know how to deal with farm equipment."

Mischief and vandalism to farms has also increased. Merz said someone intentionally shot one of his calves from the road the day after Christmas. He found it right by the fence next to a busy street. And an enormous amount of litter now lines his fields and pastureland.

Some of these farmers' new urban neighbors haven't brought out the welcome wagon either. "Last year we had a few complaints from a few residents in the apartments," said Dean. "They didn't like the fan noise when we were drying down some of our crop. We try to be good neighbors, but we have a job to do."

Moving to the country
"All over the state, with several exceptions in the Ozarks area, people are buying 10-acre tracts of land in the country along blacktop roads," said Rex Campbell, professor of rural sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. "Most of these tracts are 50 to 60 miles from their employment, so it's beginning to cover most of the state--especially along the major roads," he said. "People don't think as much of distance as they do time now. If you're mainly traveling on I-70, it's not too bad."

Missouri isn't facing large problems with suburban sprawl like Florida, Texas and California are yet, said Campbell. He classifies Missouri as a moderate state when it comes to suburban sprawl.

Campbell said people are moving to the country because most Americans believe that it's a higher quality of life. But he pointed out that that higher quality of life doesn't come cheap. "It costs a lot more to put people in the country than in town," he said. "They bring along with them expectations, which may or may not be available. They want a rural place in life with an urban set of services."

To get these urban services to them in the country, it takes money--usually taxpayer money. Campbell said this usually brings about local conflicts in these new communities.

Engelmeyer said that's the case in his community. "They can't seem to build enough roads and services fast enough to keep up with the population," he said. "It seems like the school is always too full. And I'm already taxed to death."

Making way
For some farmers like Engelmeyer, their farm's future is uncertain. He's hoping his distance from the big city is enough to keep his farm together. In other cases, such as the Deans,' family members have to change their lifestyles and professions when what land the family has left won't support all of them.

For others the future is more certain. Merz knows it's only a matter of time before he, too, will join the ranks of his old neighbors who used to farm in the area. When that happens, all he'll have left is his 600 acres in Montgomery County where suburban sprawl is starting to occur now, too.

"I'm approached all the time by real estate companies," he said. "I get something in the mail on a weekly basis. Eventually this land will become just like these subdivisions. When that happens, I don't want to stay in the area," he said. "It will be a traumatic event for me. I don't want to see my farm dug up."