VOL. 25 No. € Capacity crowd hears land preservation story BY DICK WANNER 1 LANCASTER Next to corn growing, farmland preservation is the hottest topic of conversation among farmers in southcentral Pen nsylvania, according' to Marion Deppen, an observer at Thursday’s night’s farmland preservation Chickies Cr. given thumbs-up BY SHEILA MILLER MANHEIM - It was almost unanimous, at least for the people attending the Thursday evening meeting on the Chickies Creek Watershed Project. Those folks who attended the discussion of possible alternatives for the flooding problem, and that cared to voice their opinions, were in favor of the “non structural” flood protection as explained by the Soil Conservation Service ex perts. The meeting was scheduled by SCS and the sponsors of the watershed project to inform the public of the results of a two year study that the federal government recently completed. It looked into the possible solutions to the Manheim flooding problem. The SCS technicians in vestigated sixteen alter natives to see if they were feasible. These included Colerain farmer displays his land use concerns BY DEBRA STRICKLER KIRKWOOD'— Joseph T. Ferguson, a Kirkwood area dairy farmer, has made his opinion of farmland preservation quite public. To anyone driving south along the Kirkwood Pike, Route 472, the sign “Don’t Develop Farmland” is ob vious along the barren stretch of road. If the driver happens to take a glance in his rear view mirror, he may notice the words “Farmland Destruction u> Progress.” An arrow points across the r oad towards a mound of freshly dug dirt, soon to be replaced with a new home's | basement. * Two weeks ago, Joseph Ferguson placed these signs °n his father’s farm meeting sponsored by the Lancaster Farm and Home Foundation. Deppen is the, assistant director for the Penn State Extension capital region, an eight-county area that in cludes Lancaster County. In terest certainly was evident at the meetmg. Virtually all flood control dams, concrete channels, a combination of the two, and what was ter med ,non-structura! flood controls, ' < ‘ One of ttie' SCS staff nearly 139 ’ people who at tended tiie meetmg that non structurai ‘ simply means that a dam or channel would not be constructed. Instead, homes and buildings would be either anchored or reinforced to withstand flood conditions, raised to higher elevations, moved out of the floodplain, or floodproofed with dikes, walls, orarchitecturally. Out of the sixteen alter natives studied, only two had a cost-benefit ratio that would qualify under the Public Law 586 program for protecting watersheds. These two were the non structural solutions. The SCS experts looked at the homes and businesses in (Turn to Page 28) property. According to Ferguson, “I want to let This sign was recently erected along Route 472, south of Quarryville. For Joseph Ferguson, the sign is a visual means to informing others of his concerns. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 8,1970 of the 200 chairs set up m the Farm and Home Center auditorium were filled, with dozens of people standing in the back of the room. Sprinkled through the au dience, composed mainly of farmers, were township supervisors, planning com mission members, at least one county commissioner and a state representative. They had all come to hear about ways to save farmland, -and they had come to ask questions of those who would devise and implement the means to do so. Through all of the com ments and the questions that followed, there ran a current of concern about the proper ty rights of individual lan downers. Amos Funk, a Millersyille farmer, outlined' a dded restriction program that would preserve farmland without damaging the pro perty rights of farmers who sell their land. His proposal, which he hammered out with fellow conservationists, is now being worked on in the (Turn to Page 46) In this issue Editorials 10 Alcohol fuel 17 Squid, Japanese style 32 Breeding top cows 36 Berks Pomona Grange 52 60 cow herd from scratch 54 Home on the range 102 Joyceßupp’s column 105 Cumberland DHIA 106 Adams County DHIA 109 Chester County DHIA 111 Montgomery DHIA 114 Combine summer 120 Lancaster 4-H horsemen 124 people know where I stand, and get people thinking.” Naaman W. Stoltzfus, R 1 Kinzers, led Lancaster County in butterfat production. His Dimon-Acres Holsteins turned out 736 pounds fat. See related story on page 36. Red Rose Dffi honors top milking herds BY CURT HAULER SMOKETGWN - Naaman W. Stoltzfus, R 1 Kinzers; and Tritown Farm, R 1 Leola, were honored Tuesday as the top producing DHIA herds in Lancaster County. Stoltzfus led the Dairy Herd Improvement Association’s butterfat production list with a 734 pound average for his 47 cow herd. Tritown Farm was top in milk production with a 20,153 pound output fronj its 48 registered Holsteins. The herds were among several honored at the Red Pyle Reality’s April purchase of a neighboring 65 Rose Dairy Herd Im provement Association’s Annual Meeting. The highest producing Guernsey herd in Lancaster County last year belongs to K.D. and Else Unde, R 1. Oxford. Their 65 registered milkers produced 14,126 pounds milk and 658 fat. Top Ayrshire herd in the county is owned by Harold 6. Shelly, R 2 Manheim. His 18 registered cows made 14,331 milk and 569 fat. The first place Brown Swiss herd also was at R 2 Manheim. Richard G. Wenger’s 69 milkers acre tract of farmland in stigated Ferguson’s con cern. Hervey Ferguson, a retiring farmer who is no relationship to Joseph, had no family members in terested in the farm operation. He decided to sell his land. Pyle Reality, of Quarryville, was the highest bidder and thus the pur chaser. The thought of a housing development next to Joseph Ferguson’s operation really hit home. “Academically, this means there will likely be more developing in this area,” he noted. Ferguson appreciates the fact Amish families were able to purchase other farms $7.00 Per Year averaged 13,566 pounds milk and 564 pounds butterfat. Top Jersey milking herd belongs to William P. Arrowsmith, R 1 Peach Bottom. His cows produced 11,786 pounds milk and 552 fat. It is a mixed grade and registered herd of 75 animals. Dr. Paul S. Schantz, R 1 Ephrata, had the top mixed herd. His 31 assorted cows produced 14,423 pounds milk and 512 pounds fat. The county milk production average for all cows was 14,963 pounds milk and 557 pounds butterfat. (Turn to Page 26) in the area and thus keep them from developers. “Presently they seem to be at a stand still with finances,” he commented. He said he can not foresee fanners affording additional land at the present market price. “Jospeh Ferguson is entitled to his opinion,” commented Ted Pyle of Pyle Reality. “Even though a farmer* can’t afford land, he will not restrict the land, and take a lesser price.” noted Pyle. Farmers work all their hves to own their land and increase the property’s value. Naturally as retirement approaches, they x (Turn to Page 23)
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