Northern Iowa couple spar

with lawmaker over fence law

A northern Iowa couple is calling for the state's fence law to be amended, calling it archaic.

Julie and Brent Kuntz of Grafton are in a dispute with their neighbor, state Sen. Merlin Bartz, over a fence Bartz wants them to help pay for.

Bartz tells the Globe Gazette he needs the fence to contain his cows. The Kuntzes grow corn and soybeans and say they won't benefit from the fence and shouldn't have to pay for it.

State law requires adjoining landowners to share the cost of a fence separating their property.

Telephone calls to Bartz went unanswered.

Julie Kuntz says the law should be changed to only affect livestock farmers.

She says she and her husband are considering challenging the constitutionality of the law.