Were farmers cheated by NIPSCO's 100-mile power line project?

A for-profit utility company claims it tried to be a good neighbor to meet concerns of farmers affected by a 100-mile power line that is under construction and will cross several northern Indiana counties.But farmers who are dealing with the downsides — such as gravel roads through their crops and poles that need to be farmed around — say they feel cheated by the Northern Indiana Public Service Co."I think they're absolutely crooks," said Karl Faulstich, who runs a 330-acre farm with his father near Plymouth.The Faulstiches were among hundreds of landowners who had no choice but to sell rights for a 200-foot-wide easement needed by NIPSCO to build the "Reynolds to Topeka" line, which is named after its southern and northern ends, respectively.Counties impacted by the nearly $300 million project are White, Pulaski, Starke, Marshall, Kosciusko, Elkhart and LaGrange. At the Faulstich farm, the line is being built less than 100 feet from a cattle barn. Nine power poles that are being built will make it challenging to harvest crops on the farm, and a gravel road for the project has taken over part of an alfalfa field.