Representatives from the farming industry voiced their concerns during a private meeting with Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson and then later during the Quorum Court meeting on Monday over an ordinance that was approved to establish a permit for hauling companies that use county roads.
Last week, Justice of the Peace Conley Byrd said he felt the process of obtaining a permit would "put a burden on farmers" during harvest with the additional fee. He expressed those same concerns Tuesday stating the ordinance was "bad for the property owner" but in the same breath, he said, "the permit system will work and be functional."
Tuesday during the Quorum Court meeting, Kevin McGilton, vice president of government affairs at Riceland Foods of Stuttgart, expressed his concerns about the hauling fees.
"Nobody likes the cost of business to go up and that's our concern," he said. "Even though the language you see that says farmers are exempt, the bottom line is we couldn't move this crop without independent haulers."
McGilton said farmers have to hire independent haulers to move their crops, and even though Riceland Foods also has trucks, it too depends on independent haulers.
"The bottom line is the trucker may pay that fee, but at the end of the day the farmer is going to wind up paying it because the trucker is just going to pass it on to the farmer," said McGilton.
Robinson said the meeting that was had with the farming industry leaders was productive and took into consideration their concerns.
"We were able to work through some of those languages so that we could be better at what we do and not cause a hardship totally on those who are bringing in revenue to Jefferson County," said Robinson.
The proposed ordinance states that that the county judge is now authorized to establish a permit for hauling companies that use county roads.
The hauling permit must be obtained through the County Road Department at least 10 days before any performed work begins in the county. And the cost of the hauling permit is $50 per site.
For example, if a hauling company operates three different sites, the total cost will be $150.
According to the ordinance, farmers are exempt but in the grand scheme of things, McGilton reiterated that the farmer will ultimately pay the price.
"The independent truck drivers will be responsible for getting the permit," he said. "Basically, what they will do is include that $50 in the price they charge the farmer so at the end of the day the county will get it from the truck driver and the truck driver is going to get it from the farmer."
The fee can become costly for farmers who harvest larger acreages that cover multiple plots.
"The way the judge explained it to us, you may have a farmer that has a 500-acre farm but that farm may touch three or four county roads so he is actually going to have three or four sites," explained Milligan. "If he has four sites it's going to be a $200 fee to the trucker."
According to Robinson, if the land is separated by a land mass, such as a road or any type of body of water, it is considered a separate site unless it is on the same plot, which would be considered one site.
McGilton said if it was just a one-time fee, that would be a little easier to swallow.
With harvest season coming in the fall, the added expense will cut into the pockets of the farmers who, McGilton said, are already dealing with increases in other areas of their operations.
"When farmers hire these independent truck drivers, it's typically during harvest time and harvest time trucks are in high demand so that's when we see the highest freight cost of the year," said McGilton.
According to McGilton, a normal freight rate from Pine Bluff to Stuttgart may cost a farmer $300 but during the harvest period that may go up to $800.
"Now there's going to be an additional $50 put on top of that," said McGilton. "We all know gasoline and diesel are going up, fertilizer is up this year, there's just a lot of cost that has gone up this year on farmers and we just got a concern about another cost that is going up."
Last week, during the Quorum Court Committee meeting, county environmental officer Kenneth Whitmore explained the reason the ordinance was needed.
"The main focus that we were doing here was the enforcement of the loggers tearing the county roads up," said Whitmore, who started collecting fees from those who were causing the damage. "There is no law in the books. These guys are paying because I am asking, but it's coming to the point they are telling me 'I'm not going to pay.' If I have a law on my side, I can enforce it."
Justice of the Peace Danny Holcomb said last week that the ordinance would provide a tracking system for the county.
"Right now, we really have no way of tracking who is working where," he said. "If this is on the books, and it's a law that they have to get that permit, it allows our people to know exactly where everybody's working."
The hauling permits will be obtained at the Jefferson County Road Department.
Failure to obtain proper permitting will result in the following fines:
• First offense - $500.00
• Second offense – no less than $1,500.00, no more than $5,000.00
• Third offense – no less than $5,000.00, no more than $10,000.00
McGilton said he has received feedback from farmers about the added cost and the majority have said they are not in favor of the fees.
"Every time that farmer changes fields, if he changes county roads, the trucker is going to have to have another permit so it will be multiple permits for one farm," he said. "We have to look at those things and say, 'does that make sense?' And I would say most of our farmers would say, you know, 'we don't want our cost to go up.'"