From the Diamonds' property in unincorporated Davis County near Syracuse, they can see subdivisions where there used to be open fields. And they've heard more than a couple of complaints since they began working land throughout the county.

Neighbors have called police about the bright lights and noise of nighttime irrigation. And sometimes, the Diamonds find grass clippings and other trash on their property because someone unwittingly dumped waste on what looked like empty land.

During weaning time, calves can bellow for a week or 10 days, John Diamond said. And this isn't lowly mooing. It's frantic crying from separated calves and mothers. Then there's the irrigating and baling, which have to be done at night because you have to trap moisture in hay before it's baled.

Calving should start at the end of this month, and it always seems to happen at night, so the Diamonds stay up at night with spotlights to monitor births.

It's part of a life that John and Marilyn Diamond grew up with.

"It's just like the guy who has a yacht in the Caribbean," John Diamond says. "That's his lifestyle."

The Diamonds' son Jed raises 4,600 pheasants for hunting west of Syracuse and receives complaints about hunters, even though they stay 600 feet away from homes.

The Diamonds are gearing up for more complaints from a subdivision that hasn't even been built yet in West Point.

Kip Cashmore, a developer, petitioned West Point to annex 22.7 acres of unincorporated land into the city in September 2006. The City Council obliged.

During the public hearing, John Diamond told the council he has a large cattle operation near the land Cashmore wants to develop into a subdivision. Some homes are going to be as close as 30 feet to Diamond's feedlot.

Cashmore told the council he's willing to work through issues that could prove to be problematic and doesn't want to be the bad guy.

John Anderson, West Point city planner, said it's difficult to find a balance at times between developers and farmers.

"The city definitely values its agricultural heritage," Anderson said. "Kip Cashmore has the right to develop, as well."

Diamond said homebuyers often don't realize what living next to a farm will entail.

"People want the rural feel, but they don't want the things that go with the rural feel," he said. "Cattle smell. Horses smell."

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com