Letter: There is no such thing as free money

Dear Editor,

The proposed study of the Rail WITH Trail from Newark Valley to Berkshire brings a lot of questions and concerns about how a trail will affect our community. Yes, there are the obvious positives, such as access to a linear park for exercise and possibly bringing in more customers to a business or two, but we must also analyze the adverse effects this will have on our community, our neighbors, and our agricultural operations.

To clarify, as this railway is currently operational, this would be a rail WITH trail, meaning a new path will be carved through private property for which an easement was granted to the railroad for railroad use generations ago. This easement is up to 25’ from the center of the tracks.

This would take acreage currently growing crops and livestock from the many farms along the tracks. There are dairy farms, crop farms, tourist farms, farms growing fresh produce and pasture-raised livestock, and a lumber yard that will be adversely affected by putting foot traffic, bikes, and pets in places where they were never intended to be. People in the villages through which this trail will pass will no longer have privacy in their backyards, and many may lose their backyards entirely.

As a fourth-generation operating dairy farm, these are the concerns about how a rail WITH trail will affect our operation: 

1) Access to property. Every point where the trail crosses a road provides a point of access to the trail for users. Roads are narrow, and farm machinery is large. Parking on roads at trail access points would interfere with time-sensitive planting and harvesting operations. A fence between the rail and trail would be installed to keep trespassers off the rail. Access gates would be necessary between fields split by the tracks; this would waste not only precious time and fuel, but it also adds unnecessary fatigue from constantly getting in and out of machinery to move from one field to the other: get out, open the gate, get back in, move the machinery, get back out, close the gate, and get back in. Every single trip to the field and every single load of crop.  

2) Biosecurity. Introducing dogs and people to areas they were not intended to be poses a threat to livestock in several ways. There’s the obvious harassment of livestock, but more impactful is the spread of diseases such as Avian Flu, Neospora caninum, and the transmission of established diseases from farm to farm. For many of these diseases, there are no vaccines or cures, only preventive strategies. Keeping people from inadvertently spreading pathogens is the only established strategy. These diseases are catastrophic financially and emotionally.  

Noxious weeds can also be transferred along the corridor from other properties, making invasive species more of an issue. Weeds not only pose a threat to agricultural operations but also to human health, such as poison ivy, giant hogweed, and wild parsnip.  

3) Crop loss. Loss of cropland is financially straining on a farm. For every acre of prime farmland we lose: 1 acre of alfalfa’s average yield in NYS is 8 to 14 tons per acre annually at a value of $165/ton. 1 acre of soybeans in NYS averages 51 bushels per acre at $12.50/bushel in 2024. 1 acre of corn silage yield in NYS is 17 tons per acre. The current rate of corn silage in NY is valued at $27-47/ton.   

4) Farming practices. Normal farming practices are not static; they change as new species of crops, weeds, and/or livestock appear on a farm or as new farming practices are established. Trail users would be exposed to odors of manure spreading, noises, dust, sprays, and movement of farm equipment and livestock, all of which are a critical part of farming.  A trail would create a bigger buffer zone for manure and pesticide application, limiting the ability to maximize crop yield.  

5) Litter from irresponsible trail users can damage harvesting equipment and injure livestock. Fragments of metal, wires, nails, and other nonmetallic materials injure the reticular wall of cattle, causing traumatic reticuloperitonitis (hardware disease), and will lead to a slow and painful death. Litter also attracts wildlife, which can spread disease. 

Other non-agricultural issues that come to mind are who is paying for the construction, who pays for maintenance, whether it will be lighted, whether there will be restroom facilities along the way, who is liable for injuries, who will be policing the trail, and whether property values along the trail will decrease? There is no such thing as free money.  

As a taxpayer, I would be asking why this is necessary when there are plenty of underutilized parks in Northern Tioga County. The trout ponds, the museum trails, the high school track, Alexander Pond in Newark Valley, the community park in Berkshire, and the newly created fitness course at the park in Richford are all available for use.  

Sincerely,

Debbie Lawton

Newark Valley