E2o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 6,1981
BY LAURIE DOBROSKY
HARRISBURG - “Most far
mers say they want to preserve the
farm land, but don’t stop us from
selling out,” remarked Amos
Funk, a Lancaster farmer at the
recent meeting of the Regional
Fann-City Council. “But, we can’t
have our cake and eat it too.” The
seminar was held on May 28 and 29
here at the Marriott Inn.
If things keep going as they are
Funk said in a discussion on land
preservation, “by the year 2000 we
will have lost half of the acres of
farm land we had in 1960.”
The Council held informative
discussions on land preservation,
water supplies and the economy.
In the first discussion on land
preservation, one of the mam
topics of discussion was land
zoning, and if it is the way to
preserve agricultural land for the
future.
Zoning works when the people
who use it stick to the rules and
grant very few variances, was the
general decision of the panel.
One stumbling block in
preserving land is nuisance laws.
John Hoffman of the Pennsylvania
Poultry Federation said,“with the
nuisance laws, it is very easy to put
a farm out of business.” For this
reason, the Federation is lobbying
for legislation so that a farmer who
has been m business for a number
of years can’t be sued for normal
farming operations unless he is
endangering a person’s health or
safety, he explained.
Panelists also discussed the
state’s water supply its present
and potential shortages. The panel
members represented the
Susquehanna River Basin Com
mission, Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Councd, and the
Pennsylvania Farmers
Association.
John McSparren, of the
Department of Environmental
Resources, stated that 300 water
companies is Pennsylvania don’t
have adequate water supplies for
all of their customers.
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Land preservation highlights seminar
Some solutions to the water
shortages are in developing new
supplies, conservation and
regulation.
Joseph Rossi, an economist for
Commonwealth National Bank,
discussed the trends in the
economy and proposed federal
budget cuts. Interest rates, he
projected, would level off at about
15 percent.
Robert Bucher manager of the
ag business department at Com
monwealth was the next speaker.
“Money is tight and expensive,
and the need for farmer efficiency
is great,” Bucher said. He added
he feels the smaller, less efficient
farmer is going to be eliminated,
and larger farms will take over.
“There won’t be corporate farms
in the normal sense, just larger
and fewer family farms,” Bucher
commented.
The Council also heard reports
on the ways various states and
counties in Pennsylvania promote
FLEMINGTON, N.J. - Plans
are underway here for two im
portant June Dairy Month ac
tivities; Dairy Farm Open House
and the annual Hunterdon County
Dairy Princess Contest, conducted
by committees of the Hunterdon
County Board of Agriculture.
The dairy farm open house this
year will be on the Kuster Farms’
250-acre spread near Copper Hill,
two miles south of Flemington
Circle, just off route 202-31. Held
traditionally on Fathers’ Day, the
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farm-city relationships. Winning
counties Franklin, Lebanon and
Montour shared their ex
periences with the group.
These counties held poster
contests, job exchanges (farmers
worked in the city and the city
folks worked on the farm) and set
up displays in shoppmg malls
exhibiting tractors with price tags,
farm costs and energy use.
The Council also heard from the
states of New Jersey and
Maryland on how they promoted
good farm-city relationships in
their states.
At the evening banquet. Future
Farmers of America presented a
film and Robert Rodale, president
of Rodale Press spoke on the
Cornucopia Project, his research
into the loss of farm land in Penn
sylvania and its implications.
The Farm-City Council is an
organization used to promote
better relationships between
farmers and city dwellers.
event will take place Sunday, June
21, reports Henry Kuchn, Raritan
Township, chairman.
Ernest Kuster, Jr., family and
farm staff will open their barns
and facilities to the public, offering
all an opportunity to see one of
Hunterdon’s most outstanding
dairy farms.
The Kusters have 120 milk cows
plus about 80 replacement heifers
in their operation. The cropland
fields of the two adjoining farms
produce the hay, silage and much
ißttS
Two speakers for land preservation at the Farm-City
Council seminar were John Hoffman, left, and Amos Funk,
right.
of the gram consumed by the herd.
Visitors will have a chance to see
the herd, observe feeding and
milking, milk cooling and storage
in a new bulk tank. There will be
demonstrations of artificial
breeding, exhibits of feeds and
seeds, and more.
Wagon tours, tractor-drawn and
horse-drawn will be offered during
the open house hours, 1 to 5 p.m.
Tours will cover most of the farm
lanes which traverse the mile-long
farm.
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The Hunterdon County Dairy
Princess, Chris Endris of Raritan
Township, will be on hand, along
with this year’s dairy princess
contestants, to serve snacks of
cheese and crackers, and, of
course, fresh milk.
Milk will be provided by Tuscan
Dairies, Union, Buyer of milk from
Kuster and many other dairy
farmers in the county. Dairylea
will provide the cheese.