BlO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 8,1980 You can forget any thoughts of an easy solution to farmland preservation problems. After sitting through a day-long meeting on that subject recently and hearing the comments of perhaps 50 different people, mostly Delaware farmers, I’m con vinced of two things: something needs to be done to preserve the state’s precious farmland; to get an acceptable policy will be one of the most difficult challenges ever faced by the agricultural community. A reasonable assemblage of farmers, farm leaders, government workers, and so-called experts, gathered in Dover for a extension sponsored forum on land use planning. Topics ranged from a proposed New Castle County agricultural zone to how land use is viewed in western European countries. In between, I heard almost every possible alternative, including the do-nothing policy that has been followed in Delaware for so many years. The environment was friendly with most of the par ticipants calling each other by first names. But you could sense the makings of a fight Landowners wanted to get the facts and hear the alternatives and broaden their base of understanding. But they also wanted to ask some rather pomted ques- tions and to defend their homesteads. As farmers stood up in the forum to express their views, or m private con ferences, a feeling of frustra tion seemed to be all around them. It was like they were there to defend themselves from some unknown govern mental unit that might be swooping on them, seizing their right to farm. And yet many of them admitted the need for some kind of plann ing and logical developmen tal growth in agricultural areas. Farmers are stuck with a real dilemma when it comes to land use planning. For many, their farms are their retirement programs, the death benefits for their spouses, and the legacy for their children. They don’t want to sign over that right to agricultural zoning. At the same time, they don’t want to be plagued with the problems of rural residents who live on adjoin ing land and don’t like to smell hog manure or the sight of pesticides being ap plied. As one observer at the meeting so appropriately stated it, farmers want their cake and then be able to eat it also. And most farmers ad mit to this. They want some kind of protection while they’re far ming, and that mcludes pro perty tax breaks, nght-to- GIGANTIC SELECTION IN Lancaster Farming's CLASSIFIEDS farm legislation, and other actions that keep them com petitive in the farming business Then when they or their heirs want to cash in, they’d like to be able to sell to the highest bidder even if that means a rural developer. But they can’t have it both ways. To get the protection they need now, it seems to me they’re going to have to give up some future opportumties-whether that means agricultural zomng, selling off development rights, agricultural districts, and the other terminology that professional land use planners toss around. The governmental observers who attended that meeting must be convinced that farmers don’t know what they want, and that’s probably right because as a group farmers don’t agree on what should be done. They probably never will. That’s because farmers are fiercely independent businessmen, with their own individual situations and points of view. What’s right for one is totally wrong for another. The farmer who spoke very eloquently about the need for agricultural zoning hves in New Castle County and has seen firsthand what Developed for Eastern Pork Producers, the ... 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One expert said perhaps 25 states have some kind of farmland preserva tion laws and almost every state has problems, at least in urbanized areas So what will happen in Delaware’ What plan will the First State adopt’ I haven’t the slighest idea and I don’t know any more about what farmers want after attending the meeting than I did before I went. I do know they want to be involv ed in whatever plannmg and talking is going on. I know that whatever program is implemented will affect them more than anyone else, will take away something that they now have, and will leave them as individuals on different sides of the issue. There won’t be consensus among farm organizations, farm organization leader ship, or individual farmers The best anyone can hope is some well-dicussed plann ing, a very cautious and open approach to the whole pro blem, and ultimately some form of majority rule Something needs to be done. Almost all farmers agree to that. Who should do it, how it should be ac complished and when it should be accomplished, are feeds and supplements to improve rate of gam and feed efficiency Since feed costs account for about 75% of the total cost of most operations, it pays to invest m feeds formulated for Eastern Pork Producers Cooperative swine research has taught Agway a lot about feeding pigs Call your Agway store or Representative, they’re ready to put this knowledge to work for you y SWINE ENTERPRISE SERVICE issues that are yet to be decided. Since it affects them most, it seems to me farmers should seize the initiative and move forward with a program of land use plann ing and that suits most of them the best. If they wait for some form of govern ment to take on the job, they’re apt to wind up with a lot less. AGUUAY
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