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STATEMENT AGAINST ZONING PETITION *4849 August 13 , 1990 Madison, Wisconsin Ladies and gentlemen of the zoning board , I am grateful for the opportunity to speak against the proposed zoning change , petition number 4849 , in Cross Plains Township. My name is James Festge and I live on county highway KP west of Cross Plains, My wife, Pam, and my sons , Ben, age 82 , and Adam, age 7 , operate a fifty cow dairy operation. We own 123 acres and rent an additional 40 acres in the township. We began renting our farm in 1981 . In 1985 the farm was offered for sale and we made the decision to purchase it at that time . It was not an easy decision as the farm was offered for sale at arm' s length and the terms were cash. The farm buildings and house are older and would be considered modest by today ' s standards . One of the major factors that con- vinced us to make the purchase was the excellent productivity of the cropland . Our farm, and the Brunner farm, are located in the Black Earth Valley. The Black Earth Valley, as I 'm sure you are familiar ; is an unglaciated outwash plain created by melt- waters from the ice sheets that stopped in the Middleton area . These waters brought and deposited an abundance of gravel and rich black soil as they made their way to the Wisconsin River . A large portion of the land included in this zoning request is Plano silt loam, 0 to 2 percent slope . Plano series soil is nearly uniformily black and about 11 inces thick. The sub- soil is about 35 inches thick. These soils have high fertility and available water capacity. Plano soils are well suited to all crops grown in the county and are also well suited for pasture and wildlife habitat . Plano silt loam is listed under the capability unit of I-3 which is the highest cropland capability unit assigned to a- of the soils in Dane County . These soils are easy to cultivate , can be intensively cultivated using cont .