Ailment* Piping, Saturday, July IS, 1995
Vanishing Acres:
(Continued from Pago A 1)
extension agent, recalled the day
with a shrug, “It caused some
problems,” he said, trying to be
nonchalant Then he got serious.
* 'But that was probably the biggest
problem that we ever had."
While inspecting his fields
recently, Lehigh County dairyman
John Valkovec reached down to
pull up some newly seeded alfalfa.
Instead of merely making hay, he
had to slop and remove all sorts of
trash in his field that could wreak
havoc with his equipment.
Valkovec said one day he was
mowing fivq acres of alfalfa near a
development. Some residents
decided to use the field as a driving
range. The dairyman had to stop
several times to remove golf balls
in aD, he picked 100 balls from
the field.
• But the golf balls haven’t been
nearly as frustrating as the empty
beer cans.
“When you’re chopping silage,
before you see the cans, they’re on
the load and you have to throw the
load away,’’ said Valkovec.
On a hot day in early July this
year, Jacob Stahl, a Lancaster
County poultryman. was using a
Some residents decided to use the field as
a driving range . The dairyman had to stop
several times to remove golf balls in all,
he picked 100 balls from the field .
sicklebar mower to remove some
heavy brush in a detention basin
near some newly constructed
houses. At the edge of the basin,
the farmer wonied about how
close he could cut to electrical and
telephone cabling that provides
service to residents of a new
development.
In addition, property markers—
lengths of wood of all sizes
poked up here and there, almost
with abandon. In the same field,
Stahl had found some discarded
Dairy fanner John Valkovec said one day he was mowing alfalfa near a develop
ment. Some residents decided to use the field as a driving range. The dairyman had to
stop several times to remove golf bails —In all, he picked 100 balls from the field. But
the golf balls haven’t been nearly as frustrating as the empty beer cans. “When you’re
chopping silage, before you see the cans, they’re on the load and you have to throw
the load away,” said Valkovec. Here, he picks up some material left In his field.
Surrounded By Development, Farmers Face Tough Decisions
one-inch thick cabling that could
have heavily damaged his equip
ment He mowed around it But the
grass was unbelievably, danger
ously thick. The mowing was slow
going, until the the big heavy bar
unhooked after striking a rock, and
stopped.
Forrest Wessner, a Lehigh
County cash crop and potato far
mer, remembers plowing a field
one spring. A neighbor came up to
him and asked him to turn down
die tractor’s radio, because it was,
according to die neighbor, “mak
ing too much noise.”
Joe Stahl, son of Lancaster
County poultry farmer Jacob
Stahl, said he was working on the
farm one day when a neighbor
asked him about some fencing on
the farm property. The neighbor
wanted to put in a split rail fence at
thetomer of the lot The neighbor,
who was landscaping a newly pur
chased home, asked Joe if the
fence on the farm property was
going to be replaced.
Joe said the neighbor suggested
to him that a split rail fence would
look a whole lot nicer than the far
mer’s “rusting fence back there,
and it would help my property.”
Stories of how farmers deal with
neighbors from farmers com
plaining about trespassing snow
mobile riders and four-wheel vehi
cle operators to housing residents
who sue fanners because of the
noise of com driers or tractors
abound in the heavily populated
counties of southeastern
Pennsylvania.
The farmers complain because
the residents don’t understand
farming. They’ve never exper
ienced life on a farm. They don’t
N - *T'. '
, :-^n
s > **'
* **< >
> It*
While residents In the surrounding development were celebrating with food and
fireworks on a July 4 evening, Tim Fritz was getting concerned and Irritated. Resi
dents were shooting fireworks Into a herd of young Holstein cows and heifers on
some pasturelang that was hemmed In by new houses. “H caused some problems,"
he said, trying to be nonchalant. Then he got serious. “But that was probably the bio
gest problem that we ever had."
understand agriculture.
Residents see flies invading
backyard summer' holiday bar
beques and want to tell the farmer
what they think about that freshly
spread manure.
“We get a lot of calls from the
public.” said Leon Ressler, Lan
caster County ag environment
agent who deals with farm/urban
interface issues.
Most commonly, in the summer,
the complaints against farmers
mount Sometimes it’s the odor
from freshly spread manure. Often
it is the farmer, intent on getting
the cropwork finished, working
the fields too late. Many times it
can be the noises generated by the
sound of tractor engines, grain
driers, feed mixers, and whatnot.
But the most common problem
is the flies especially when
manure is applied near a develop
ment. If the manure is not worked
into the soil, the fly larvae hatch,
and the cycle can continue on.
Even though the common housefly
has only a 10-12 day lifecycle, suc
ceeding generations can sprout and
overtake a field..
And fly in through open win-
A neighbor came up to him and asked him
to turn down the tractor’s radio, because it
was, according to the neighbor, ( making
too much noise,’
dows in new houses.
There are no simple strategies,
according to Resster. Even Joe
Stahl admits that the fly issue is the
“greatest challenge*’ for farmers.
Stahl admits that, when it comes to
good neighbor relations, the fly
problem is “our worst enemy.”
Early incorporation of the man
ure by moldboard plowing can go a
tong way to stopping fly problems,
according to Ressler. Other prob-
On a hot day in early July this year, Jacob Stahl, right, a
Lancaster County poultryman, was using a slcklebar mow
er to remove some heavy brush In a detention basin near
some newly constructs houses. At the edge of the basin,
the farmer worried about how close he could cut to electri
cal and telephone cabling that serviced residents of a new
development. Stahl atands with son Joe, far left, and Joe’s
James.
y/ \ >
a. <
lems demand more communica
tion between the fanner and the
neighbors.
"I try to encourage the neighbor
to find out who the farmer is and
talk to him to discuss the prob
lem,” said Ressler. ”1 also give
them some suggestions on what
they can do to reduce the problems
over the short-term.”
But even with precautions and
sound management strategies, the
challenge for farmers in dealing
with neighbors in new residential
housing goes on.
For John Valkovec and family,
the urban challenge is from cities
such as Philadelphia and from
those who make the daily com
mute from New Jersey.
For Fred Seipt, co-owner of
Freddy-Hill Farms in Landsdale,
the residents who surround his
(Turn to Pago A 25)