A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 8, 1995 Lehigh Conservation Farmers ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff GERMANSVILLE (Lehigh Co.) Forrest Wessner said he has never built a house on any of the property he owns in Heidelberg Township. “If you want to have a farm, you have a farm. If you want to have housing, you have housing. The two don’t work well together.” Many agree. One day, while plowing some land for his potato crop, he Was approached by some one living in a house nearby who was concerned about the * ‘noise.” But it wasn’t the noise of the tractor's diesel engine. According to wife Diana, it was the noise from the radio. The time of day? The middle of the afternoon! Fortunately, according to Wess ner, most of the neighbors are farming and understand the impor tance of preserving farmland. But increasing concerns about water quality, residential development, wetlands regulations, and other matters have kept the Wessners worried about the future of farm ing, since Wessner’s son Forrest IE took over after graduation from Penn State. Wcssner, along with wife Diana and son Forrest in and his wife Jessica, farm about 290 acres across several properties along the foot of the Blue Mountains. The Wessner family was honored recently as the Lehigh County’s Conservation Farmers of the Year for their conservation work, their efforts to restore wetlands, and for land placed into the state’s preser vation program. One of the concerns, according to Forrest Wessner, Is last year’s outbreak of potato blight, which caused about two acres of losses. Wet and cool conditions could create another outbreak this year, one that could be difficult for potato growers to deal with. ■vesting and packaging soma of tha potato#*, sold In 50-pound bags, comas from Staphanla and Pam, Wassner’s daughtars, and tha grandklds. Diana said they halp hand-harvest a few acres at tha beginning of tha season In lata July. From Itft, Jessica, Forrest Jr.; Diana, and Forrest Sr. Here, according to Wessner, “people are bom and raised with farming. They’re not hard to deal with. But some people who move in from other areas don’t under stand the smells, the dusts, and the what-have-you of fanning.” The Wessners grow about 70 acres of “table stock” potatoes for fresh market The Wessners also maintain about 90 acres of alfalfa and grow about 40 acres of soy beans. The entire operation is cash cropped. One of the concerns, according to Forrest Wessner, is last year’s outbreak of potato blight which caused about two acres of losses. Wet and cool conditions could cre ate another outbreak this year one that could be difficult for pota to growers to deal with. Wessner said that friends in Pot ter County “got kicked in the head” by the blight. “I’m really nervous about this year. This blight problem we’re anxious about because there’s no real good protection for it.” Wessner explained that his spraying prog ram was effective in keeping the blightproblem under control, “but you can’t always get in the fields when you should be spraying because of the weather. “The weather is the key facta 1 with anything you do in farming,’’ he said. “It means everything.’’ Wessner has been keeping care ful track of the research conducted by the universities on late blight control. What has him concerned is the lack of an adequate treatment in times of worsening conditions. Learning about control measures Worry About Development, Regulations, Blight proves rhailp.nging, according to 'He spotted the blight fungus on occurred, destroying the crop, the potato farmer, because he said, one variety that he grew and took Wessncr blames the blight on poor “talking about it in the classroom steps to connect it. Another variety seedstock and vows to inspect the and then doing it in the field is a had the problem, but Wessner was potatoes this time around, even if whole different ballgame.” reluctant to handle it An outbreak (Turn to Pag* A 26) The Wessner family was honored recently as the Lehigh County’s Conservation Farmers of the Year for their conservation work, their efforts to restore wetlands, and for land placed Into the state’s preservation program. jr** 'm**'*?/ V Increasing concerns about water quality, residential development, wetlands reg ulations, and other matters have kept the Wessners worried about the future of farm ing, since Wessner’s son Forrest Jr. took over after graduation from Penn State. Jes sica received a degree In environmental resource management (wetlands ecology) from Penn State. The Wessners are working to restore eight acres of wetlands at another farm she. From left, Diana, Jessica, Forrest 111, and Forrest Jr. Forrast Whimt signad up all thiaa farms thay maintain undartha atata’s farmland praaarvatlon program. Tha prog ram haa put atrong ralna on rasMamial and commarcial davalopmant on fannland. Haro, Forrast stands with wlfa Diana and Rambo, thair Saint Barnard. Photo by Andy Andrmm ><* * p f
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