Guided growth (Continued from Page 92) “Would any manufacturer reduce the size of his work force working in this more efficient plant if the workers have proven superior to other workers in the state? Our farmers are younger, harder working, and frugal, ye t many of them have to quit farming or leave the County because of the lack of land to farm. “According to the most recent crop reporting service report, Lancaster County produced agricultural crops and products valued at 385 million dollars. The crop and agricultural product value for the entire State is $l.B billion. So it follows that although there are 67 counties in Pennsylvania, Lancaster County produced nearly 1/5 of all the agricultural product value of the State. So you see, when a land use decision is made concerning land located ATTENTION FARMERS..., FREE ESTIMATES ON RODENT CONTROL RODENTS carry diseases which can endanger the health of your flocks. Your business is raising the flocks. Ours is protecting them. Since 1928 Pest control is too important to trust to anyone else 1278 Loop Rd. Lancaster, Pa. 17604 717-397-3721 ®Ss®® in our county, we are considering alternate uses of land that is agriculturally among the most highly productive in the nation,” Funk reasoned. “The fact remains that Lancaster County is a nice place to work and live. Stewart Udall, former Secretary of the Interior, speaking m Hershey some tune ago, said that if he were to pick an ideal community east of the Mississippi in which to live, he would choose Lancaster County. This is our problem, our county is just too attractive. I am sure a lot of counties wish they had this problem. “I am fearful that unless we guide development a lot more carefully and hopefully slow down the rate of growth, our county will not continue to be a nice place to work and live,” he continued. “From time to time, the tourist industry here in the county calls our attention to the economic impact of their industry. In 1975, the reported expenditure by tourists in the county was 108 million dollars. This is a sizeable amount of money. However, in 1974, according to the last census figures, farmers in the county spent 199 million dollars on farm production expenses, a sum 54 per cent greater than the income from tourism. Farmers in the county also stimulate the economy,” Funk declared. “As of January, 1974, 112 of Lancaster County’s 672 industries were agriculturally related. Agri-business is an important part of the County’s economy,” he exclaimed. “Each year, it seems more of our good farmland is lost to urbanization. As an extreme example, I would cite Suffolk County, Long, Island, in New York State. Here is a county with excellent farmland similar to Lancaster County. It is a bit larger in area than our county. However, in the past 42 years, 87 per cent of the agricultural land has been taken out of production to accommodate the one million new people who moved into the county. “To those who say, it couldn’t happen here, remember today, Lancaster County leads all counties in the rate of development. 33 per cent of our county is now urbanized. In fact, eight of the 12 farms nearest our farm in Miller sville, are owned by developers. While crops are now grown on these farms, quite likely development will be their future use, not fanning. “For some reason, people and industry are attracted to the best farmland. To date, approximately one half of Pennsylvania’s best soils, the levelest, the easiest to farm and the least erodable, are already converted to non agricultural use. The reason, it is easier to build on these soils, it is cheaper to build on these soils. “A look at a soils map of Pennsylvania will show that most of the best agricultural land in the state is located in southeastern Pennsylvania. There, too, is where most of the industry is located and where most of the people live. “The same situation exists in Lancaster County. Most of the development has taken place on the relatively level, rich limestone soils in the County. “While most of our building in the past has been on Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 20,1979 “While most of ou building in the pai has been on prime farmland, 1 trust most of our future development will hi guided away from our best agricultural land.” prime farmland, I trust most of our future development will be guided away from our best agricultural land. “In addition, I would hope we would use less land for each home or apartment that is built I am not against growth. I favor reasonable growth and guided growth. “I believe we can accommodate the projected 3,000 new housing units per year in Lancaster County if the housing density is increased toward the goals set by the Lancaster County Planning Commission. If this could be done, the projected 200,000 increased population in our county by the year 2000, could be housed on less than 35,000 acres of land. There have been periods in our recent history when for every 100 increase in population, 75 acres of agricultural land have been taken out of production. “If we do as poorly in the future as we have during one 10-year period in the past, six times the 35,000 acres would be needed. We must not let this happen,” Funk declared. “I think it is time we treat land as a non-renewable resource rather than just an economic unit to be traded at will without any thought of the future impact of such action. “Many of us are asking the same question as asked recently by U.S. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, Rupert Cutler, when he asked and I quote: “How long can our nation permit the kidnapping of prime farmland for housmg and industrial use before we gravely endanger our ability to meet the food needs of our people and our food commitments to the disadvantaged people of the world’” “According to the most recent census figures, Lan caster County is losmg 8000 acres of agricultural land per year to non-agncultural use. We still have nearly 400,000 acres left. If something isn’t done about this loss, in 50 years there could be less than 100 farms left in what was (Turn to Page 105) Amos Funk 93
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