Irrigation system shooting water on and across SR91 south of Colquitt Friday evening Thank goodness for the scattered showers we have had recently. The expense for farmers to wet their crops with irrigation is staggering.

The age of some irrigation systems makes it almost cost prohibitive to fix the end-gun so that it will not wet public roadways; that is now the law. One farmer stated that it would cost over $5000.00 per system to fix it so that the end-gun would cut off at certain points.

One farmer said, “If you don’t want a little water on the roads, move to town. Who do we bill for sliding in the ditch after a two inch rain, the nearest church or the county commissioners?”

Just the dirt roads, which are many in Miller County, are not the only ones that irrigation end-guns cover day and night. Some farmers are being warned against their complete system crossing public roads as they circle, which is against state and county laws, not to mention the liability of the owner of the irrigation system and the property owner.

There have been numerous accidents that were attributed to irrigation systems wetting, or making a road impassable because of water on the roadway or making a slick, muddy area in the roadway.

The county commissioners have recently enacted regulations prohibiting irrigation systems from crossing public roadways and prohibiting end-guns from spraying public roads.

If that’s not enough about irrigation systems, the most recent regulation is the taxing of irrigation systems and wells.

The halls of the Miller County Courthouse have been full for the past few days as farmers and land owners go into the Miller County Tax Equalizers Office to protest the recent taxing of farm irrigation wells and systems.

The last time we checked between 55 and 65 well and irrigation owners had signed a protest against taxing property that was already part of the land values.

From what we have found, Miller County is not the only one that is adding tax revenue to the coffers by including wells and irrigation systems to the tax books.