VOL 27 No. 45 Lancaster farmer is pioneer in farmland preservation BY SHEILA MILLER EPHHATA Lancaster County reached a milestone in its efforts to preserve prime agricultural land this week as 80-year-old Ivan Martin became the first countian to voluntarily restrict his land to agriculture uses. Martin, who retired from far ming in ,1966, earned the title of farmland preservation “pioneer”' when he signed a deed restriction 1 which will assure his 128-acre, Clay Township farm will continue i to grow corn, alfalfa, and small < grains “ip perpetuity,’ or forever andaday. - ' The Lancaster County fanner learned the Value of rich, fertile -, soils as a small boy growing upjn lowa and then moving north to i Michigan before coming to Penn- ‘ sylvama jn 1923. “1 know better , than most what goocLland is,” be I said, adding the soils on bis Lan caster County farm were the best ■' be- more than 30 , years offanrung, Martin explained Unit he has been “trying to get all the far mland 1 can in one block” to be part of the deed restnction Color Breeds shine at Md . fair BY DONNA TOMMELLEO TIMONIUM, Md. Lancaster County boasted two Maryland State Fair dairy champs, during the Labor Day weekend as the Color Breeds had their day at Timonmm. Ephrata dairy farmers Kerry and Deborah Boyd crossed the Mason-Dixon line with six head of Westminster, Md. breeder Wayne Stiles exhibits the winning form of OPS Golden Daily Double, the Junior Champion of the 1982 Maiyland State Fair. The senior yearling Four Sections ■ program. He said several neigh boring farmers have expressed interest in. keeping, their farms in agriculture, too. “Three of the land joiners could have sold lots and didn’t,” he stressed. “farmland preservation is like going for a swim in the old water hole,” Martin said. “Once one jumps m and doesn’t freeze or drown, the others all jump in too. Maybe this will be like that.” According to Aaron Stauffer, one . of the county’s leading advocates for farmland preservation, there are about" 10 farmers within the county’s 278,000-acre agriculture preserve areas that have ex - pressed interest in voluntary deed restriction. Most of the efforts of the'county’s Agriculture Preserve Board have been concentrated in Clay and Kphrata townships. . Since none of Martin’s sons were interested in following their father’s footsteps on the farm, Martin has been leasing the farm... to .tenants smce his retirement. He" noted that the number of .dairy cows his present tenant, nephew Alvin Martin, keeps on the farm (Turn to Page A 32) . Brown Swiss cattle and -returned several ribbons and one Junior 1 j Champion heavier. The Boyd’s champion, senior yearling Keb Clay View Titan Patty is sired by Lav Le Stretch Titan and due in November to. Maple Grove Performer. When the Golden Guernseys," paraded in front of judge Steve 1 claimed her title last weekend as six major dairy breeds paraded through the Timonium Fairgrounds Cows Palace. LancastarFanaiag, Satorday, Saptombtr 11,1982 Signs first deed restriction - Lancaster" County farmer, Ivan Martin, second injm right, and wife Fannie became the first in the county to restrict their farm's future to agriculture. They signed, their farm's deed restriction on Tuesday with County Com- Lovelace of Orangeburg, South Carolina, Quarryville entry Hollow View D Delight moved into the Reserve Junior Champion slot. Owned and bred by Scott and Elsie Wolff, the junior yearling is sired by Housleys AFC Diamond. Lovelace went with Crown Stone < Goliath Heidi for bis Grand (Turn to Page A 27) ■ missioner Jim Huber, right, and Lancaster County Agriculture Preserve Board members Aaron Stauffer, left, and Amos Funk wit nessing the historic event. OMB cans cherry set aside BY GINGER SECRIST MYERS Staff Correspondent YORK SPRINGS - On July 2, during the height of this year's cherry harvest, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget took the unprecedented action of vetoing a USDA-approved federal marketing cherry set aside reserve pool program. This is the first time such a veto has been imposed on the order in its twelve year history. Explained Everett Weiser, Weiser Orchards, York Springs, a processor director to the Cherry Administrative Board, “The cherry industry has always had a real positive feeling about this Preliminary vote shows sheep producers favoring promotion WASHINGTON, D.C. - Wool producers by a 23,800 to 8,975 margin voted to continue deduc tions from Commodity , Credit Corporation wool incentive ' payments to finance promotion of wool, according to CCC executive vicepresident Everett Rank. Preliminary returns show 72.6 percent of the producers favored the advertising and other market development activities which Vote By Producers For Against Total% (Number of Producers) Yes 810 348 1,158 70% Production Represented In Referendum For Against Total % (Number of Sheep Owned Yes 37,622 15,473 53,095 71% $7.50 p*r yiar marketing order since it helps to stablize the supply of cherries on the market from year to year. ’ ’ According to Weiser, the Cherry Administrative Board, a national representation of growers and processors which meets annually, met June 24 with a representative from USDA who provided guidelines to estimate the cherry crop and bow much should be “set aside” for later marketing. The USDA representative is respon sible for monitoring whether the Board’s recommendations comply with USDA marketing regulations. In light of the expectations for (Turn to Page Al 6) would be continued under a proposed new agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Sheep Producers Council, Inc. Producers voted in a referendum held Aug. 16-27. The proposed agreement authorizes continued deductions from payments made under the National Wool Act on wool and (Turn to Page Al 6)
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