# Some farmland being planted for last time
LANCASTER - Spring
planting is under way. In
Lancaster County, the
"BETTER-BILT"
LAGOON PUMP
* VACUUM
■spreaders
Sizes Available
800 gal.
1100 gal.
1500 gal.
2100 gal.
2600 gal.
3100 gal.
3600 gal.
4000 gal.
GOOD PRICED TO SELL
* 1100 gal. Vacuum Spreader SOLD ★ 2000 gal. Spreader SOLD
USED * 1875 gal. Tandem Spreader ★ 1250 gal. Spreader
* 1500 gal. Vacuum Spreader ★ 2-12 Pit Pumps
SPREADERS * 1-Piston Transfer Pump
SHENK'S FARM SERVICE
Winter grains are turning a
lush green and the rich
brown soils are being
HIGH PRESSURE PUMP
NEW SPREADERS ON HAND
501 E. WOODS DRIVE LITITZ, PA. 17543 PHONE; 717-626-1151
Home Phone: Clyde Lutz 717-738-1718
Home Phone: Curtis Cassady 717-626-1065
Our Service Trucks Are Radio Dispatched 24 Hr. Service Offered
readied tor seed.
Everywhere, rural activity
begins to promise a bountiful
harvest - sometimes for the
last time.
Every year, according to
John B. Munson, Extension
resource development
agent, hundreds of acres of
prime Lancaster County
land are planted for the last
time, before giving way to
the urban bulldozer, shop
ping centers, homes,
highways, and industries
replace crops and pasture
forever.
At the current rate of land
conversion, there will still be
a lot of good farmland left,
well into the middle of the
next century. Across the
nation there has actually
been a net increase in far
mland, as new lands in the
South and West are opened
to agriculture. Of course,
these new lands require
enormous amounts of money
to be productive and may
depend on precarious water
supplies. But here in Lan
caster County we need new
houses, new jobs, and new
public facilities that require
more and more land.
Building on land that is
unsuitable for agriculture
usually raises the cost
considerably.
Some people, of course,
would like to see much of the
productive land stay that
way.
Some are farmers, con
cerned about their ability to
continue earning a living in
COME
SEE
OR
CALL
★
Are You Ready
For Spring
MANURE HANDLING?
See Us For Your
Liquid Manure
Handling
Equipment.
r\ f§t GRAVITY
AUGER MATIC
#€ SPREADERS:
V Sizes Available:
IfooSl
.'.I- 2600 gal.
PIT CHOPPER PUMP
INJECTION SYSTEMS
x
f f " <-t V
>jr
* v *
f * J
V <<s »*- *'
*>•
—<f y
In some places in Lancaster County, this will be the last time the ground is
planted and used for agriculture.
farming. Some are en
vironmentalists, who see
farmland preservation as an
important component in the
protection of clean air and
drinking water. Others are
businessmen who make a
living by supplying goods to
farmers or by transporting
or processing farm products.
Still others are local
government officials
worried about their ability to
provide adequate services,
like roads, sewer, water,
police and fire protection, to
an increasingly scattered
population.
A fqw people argue
strongly for the preservation
of farmland; a few, perhaps
not so many, argue against
' " 5 I
3100 gal.
3600 gal.
4000 gal.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 6,1978
L t <
i'li V *
* V }^vA
> £
v / /
it. Most people, though, have
scarcely entered the debate,
much less made their
opinions known. Yet whether
farmland is preserved, and
if so, how it is preserved,
affects everyone. Obviously,
all need to eat, so the
preservation of food
production is important to
all. But there are other,
more complex issues in
volved. Whether or not make
a decision is made to
preserve farmland will help
to determine how the
communities develop, what
kind of neighborhoods people
live in, where major
development investments
are made, and how much it
will cost taxpayers to
finance public services.
Pennsylvanians are
wrestling with the issues of
farmland preservation.
Countless conferences,
seminars, and surveys are
being carried out across the
state by all kinds of
-
. * * v v y *
>T , XT * >-a ( -• *. *
> ♦ >• '■"“ 4 v.
» vt> »• *. * * </ Z,-*'
'„- ✓ r
X
organizations from farm
groups to Chambers of
Commerce. The governor
soon will issue a major land
policy report, based on five
years of study, research and
citizen participation, in
which the preservation of
agriculture is expected to be
the number one priority.
Townships, which have
most of the farmland and
make most of the land use
decisions in Pennsylvania,
are also struggling with the
issues. The number of
townships with some kind of
ordinance aimed at
preserving farmland is
growing, but there is much
to be done in order that
farmland can be preserved
in ways which will assure
that farmers can earn a fair
living and that the rights of
landowners and taxpayers
are maintained. There will
be no easy solution. In the
meantime, thousands of
acres will be planted for the
last time.
109