Cronk v. Benson

• Decision Date: 23 June 1960
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 5999.
• Citation: 187 F. Supp. 4
• Parties: Roland K. CRONK, Plaintiff, v. Ezra Taft BENSON, Secretary of Agriculture, The United States of America, Joseph K. Turecek, Lindley Hollingsworth and Charles MacLean as the Arapahoe County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee, and M. C. McCormick, Leo L. Sommerville and Kenneth W. Thayer, as the Colorado State Committee of Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Colorado

187 F. Supp. 4

Roland K. CRONK, Plaintiff, v. Ezra Taft BENSON, Secretary of Agriculture, The United States of America, Joseph K. Turecek, Lindley Hollingsworth and Charles MacLean as the Arapahoe County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee, and M. C. McCormick, Leo L. Sommerville and Kenneth W. Thayer, as the Colorado State Committee of Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee, Defendants.

Civ. No. 5999.

United States District Court D. Colorado.

June 23, 1960.

David J. Miller, Robert A. Ruyle, Greeley, Colo., for plaintiff.

Donald G. Brotzman, U. S. Atty., Charles M. Stoddard, Asst. U. S. Atty., Denver, Colo., Harold E. Hafer, Regional Atty., Rogers N. Robinson, Atty., Office of Gen. Counsel, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Denver, Colo., for defendants.

CHRISTENSON, District Judge.

The above-entitled action came on regularly for trial on April 7, 1960, and the Court having duly considered the evidence herein and being fully advised in the premises now finds the following:

Findings of Fact

1. This action is brought under Title 7 U.S.C.A. § 1801 et seq. and particularly Section 1821 et seq., relating to the so-called Acreage Reserve Program under the Soil Bank Program.

2. The plaintiff, Roland K. Cronk, is a wheat grower who resides in Strasburg, Arapahoe County, Colorado, and owns or leases two tracts of land approximately 12 miles east and 24 miles east of Byers in Arapahoe County, a tract in Weld County, Colorado, and a tract near Strasburg, where he lives. For the crop year 1957 this land, together with additional land which he leased from Mrs. Edna L. Black in Adams County and from Mr. B. Emmet Bohan in Arapahoe County, was operated by Roland Cronk as "a farm" under the Acreage Allotment Program administered through the county Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee for Arapahoe County, located at Byers, Colorado. The total acres in the farm were 4,660, of which 4,382 was crop land or tillable acres. The acreage allotment established for the farm by the Arapahoe County ASC committee for the crop year 1957 was 1,427 acres. Cronk's wheat allotment was 923 acres, Mrs. Black's wheat allotment was 407 acres, and Mr. Bohan's wheat allotment was 97 acres. The plaintiff was one of the largest operators of wheat farms in Arapahoe County.

3. Mr. Cronk lost his wheat crop in the years 1955 and 1956 due to drought and wind. Due to favorable moisture conditions in the fall of 1956 he began seeding wheat on the farm on or about September 1, 1956, and completed the drilling or seeding operations on or about October 10, 1956, when he had seeded some 2,800 acres.

4. Some time after the middle of September, 1956, Mr. Cronk came to the county ASC office at Byers and discussed with the county office manager, Mr. Clifford Moody, the provisions of the 1957 Acreage Reserve Program and particularly the provisions of the form of contract utilized under the statutes and the regulations for the Acreage Reserve Program for that particular year. At that time Mr. Cronk made certain computations in an attempt to determine whether his prospects would be improved by entering into an Acreage Reserve contract.

5. On or about October 2, 1956, Mr. Cronk, Mrs. Edna Black, and Mr. Emmet Bohan signed a Soil Bank Acreage Reserve Agreement for 1957 involving winter wheat, by which they placed 713.5 acres, or one-half of the acreage allotment for the farm, in the acreage reserve. The acreage placed in the acreage reserve was identified on maps by fields and by section, township, and range. The amount of compensation to be paid per acre for participating in the Acreage Reserve Program and for compliance with the contract was $19.89 per acre. The share of the total compensation to be paid by the Secretary of Agriculture to each of the three parties (Mr. Cronk, Mrs. Edna Black, and Mr. Emmet Bohan) was also stated. The total compensation to be paid to the parties for compliance with the contract was $14,191.51.

6. This contract was signed on behalf of the Secretary of Agriculture by Lindsley Hollingsworth, as an authorized ASC county committeeman, on October 24, 1956.

7. In the Fall of 1956, Cronk told Bohan that he would wait as long as possible in the spring of 1957 before determining whether or not to comply with the contract by destroying the excess wheat.

8. There is no prohibition in the contract or in the applicable regulations against seeding wheat as a cover crop in excess of the allotment; however, the contract on its face provides that the maximum acres for harvest, or the so-called "permitted acres," is 713.5, or the difference between the allotment and the number of acres designated as being placed under the Acreage Reserve agreement. This same provision is spelled out under the "Terms and Conditions" of the contract, in section 3(a), which appear on the reverse side of the contract or are incorporated by reference therein.

9. During the spring of 1957, several notices were sent to and received by Roland Cronk, from the county ASC office, which indicated that according to measurement made by the officials at the county level, he had seeded in excess both of his acreage allotment of 1,427 acres for the farm and also of his so-called permitted acres of 713.5 acres under the Soil Bank Acreage Reserve Agreement mentioned above. These notices also advised the plaintiff, Roland Cronk, of the number of acres he would have to destroy to comply with each program prior to the final destruction date. The final destruction date for such excess acres was June 10, 1957 under both the acreage allotment and the Acreage Reserve Program.

10. During the spring of 1957 a very severe storm, accompanied by wind, destroyed practically all of the acreage seeded to wheat on the land owned by Mrs. Black in Adams County. At the request of Mrs. Black, Mr. Cronk reseeded, in late May and early June of 1957, 500 acres of her land to spring barley and 300 acres to milo. There was no prohibition against seeding any amount of acreage to milo or barley under the 1957 Acreage Reserve Program or under the 1957 acreage allotment program, contrary to the situation so far as wheat was concerned.

11. The destruction by the elements of this approximately 800 acres of wheat on Mrs. Black's land, together with the partial destruction of approximately 140 acres on Cronk's land and a few acres on Bohan's land, reduced the amount of excess acres under the acreage allotment program and also under the Acreage Reserve program. After the damage done by the spring storms, there were approximately 1,900 acres of wheat standing. This meant that Cronk had about 500 acres in excess of his wheat acreage allotment of 1,427 acres and about 1,200 acres in excess of his permitted acres of 713.5 under the Acreage Reserve agreement.

12. As of June 7, Mr. Cronk may have felt some concern as to whether time, and perhaps the weather, would permit the destruction of these excess acres prior to the June 10 deadline. He had not theretofore determined to attempt in good faith to destroy the excess acreage, nor did he thereafter definitely decide to attempt to do so. He did, however, about June 7, make inquiry at the county level as to whether any notice had been received in the county office permitting an extension of time to destroy the excess acres. He was told by Mr. Moody, the county office manager, that the office had not received any notice of such extension of time.

13. Some time prior to June 7, Mr. Cronk and Mrs. Black discussed compliance with the contract, and Mr. Cronk told Mrs. Black that his wheat looked too good and he was not going to comply with the contract. Mr. Cronk then indicated that he thought it would be right for him to pay her share of the penalty. Mrs. Black told Mr. Cronk that she thought the contract should be complied with.

14. Some time prior to the deadline date for destruction on June 10, Mr. Cronk had a conversation with Mr. B. Emmet Bohan in which Mr. Cronk told Mr. Bohan that the wheat looked good and he could not afford to comply with the contract.

15. On two occasions, June 4, 1957, and June 28, 1957, Mr. Cronk sprayed to kill the weeds on certain of his acreage which was the poorer wheat, in order to improve such wheat.

16. During the early spring of 1957 there was an unusual amount of moisture in the form of rain and snow, as contrasted with the drought conditions which had prevailed in 1954 and 1955. Nevertheless the evidence on the daily totals of rainfall during the months of March, April, May, and up through June and July shows that on a number of days during the critical period there was no rainfall or precipitation and on others the amounts were negligible. Mr. Cronk testified himself that he planted 500 acres of barley and 300 acres of milo for Mrs. Black during late May and early June of 1957, in addition to a few acres on Mr. Bohan's land. Mr. Hollingsworth, a member of the county committee, who lives about a mile and a half from a substantial portion of the land operated by Mr. Cronk, 24 miles east of Byers, testified from his weather records that during the period May 18, 1957 to June 10, 1957, inclusive, only slightly more than one inch of rain fell in the area and that for the period June 1, 1957 to June 10, 1957, inclusive, no precipitation whatever fell in the area. Three local farmers testified that they had destroyed their excess acres prior to the June 10 deadline in order to get into compliance under the marketing quota program or in order to comply and to receive their payments under the Acreage Reserve program. One of these farmers, a Mr. Rhodes, said his land was only three or four miles from a substantial part of the land operated by Mr. Cronk. Mr. Rhodes destroyed 120 acres before May 22 to comply with his Acreage Reserve agreement. He lives on Section 30, Township 4 South, Range 57 West of the 6th P.M. Based on this evidence, I find that the weather conditions were not such...