A2O-LancaaW Panting, Saturday, July 22, 1995
Vanishing Acres: Despite Development Pressure, Farmers Find Ways To Thrive
Part 2 of 3
Editor's Note: In part one of
the Vanishing Acres series, far
mers spoke about their experi
ences when dealing with residen
tial neighbors. In part two, far
mers learn to deal with and
profit from the challenges.
It has become increasingly diffi
cult for agriculture to remain a
way of life in communities such as
Lancaster County. Due to rapid
growth, many organizations talk of
preserving farmland as part of our
landscape without thought to pre
serving the economic nobility of
farmers. \
Jeff Stoltzfus
Adult Farmer Instructor
Eastern Lancaster County
Ressler admits that choosing to develop
land is ‘more profitable than the difficult,
uphill production battle that keeps the land
in production
Sprawling residential develop
ment that destroys farmland
imposes a net financial loss on the
coffers of local communities, inhi
biting their ability to, among other
things, fund quality school sys
tems, according to a new analysis
of three Minnesota towns recently
released by the Land Stewardship
Project and the American Farm
land Trust.... Farmland protec
tion may be financially beneficial
not only because of its contribution
to the lax base, but also because it
holds down property tax valuation.
Excerpt From
“Farmland And The
Tax Bill: The Cost
Of Community Services
In Three
Minnesota Cities”
The Land Stewardship Project
St. Croix, Minn.
In a 13-year span, between 1982 and
1995, about3o,ooo acres have been lost in
Lancaster County . Farmland is being lost
at a rate of 2,000 acres per year.
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LANSDALE (Montgomery
Co.) —Like the saying, Fred Seipl
knows how to turn a lemon into
lemonade.
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“The whole time emphasis has changed,” said Fred Selpt. In the past, farmers wor
ried about timeliness, management, and many other business considerations. Pro
duction and profitability were forefront. But development pressures have given far
mers additional worries.
Seven yean ago, feeling the
incessant pressure of development
take away land he used to rent, apd
trying to figure out how to compete
against the giant Philadelphia milk
processors. Fred decided to open
up an ice cream parlor.
The Towamencin Township
dairy fanner saw how successful it
was with the crowds. Even while
losing farmland rapidly, Seipt saw
how many people enjoyed ice
cream.
Two years later, at the sugges
tion of his son, Matthew, Seipt
spent $1.2 million to construct two
miniature golf courses, a batting
cage, and a driving range to round
out the dream* of an “entertain
ment farm.”
The “lemonade strategy”
worked. Now, business at Freddy-
Hill Farms is booming, with no
end in sight
Before Jacob and Joe Stahl built
a poultry layer operation in Lititz
in 1979,as part of the arrangement
the farmers were required to grow
a cash crop. Instead of tobacco,
Jacob Stahl decided to grow toma
toes —lO acres of them—in addi
tion to a large variety of vegetable
crops.
the market is there. Instead, of
where there appeared nothing but
constant development pressure
and nearly mindless urban sprawl,
with help from son Joe, Stahl is
able to market vegetable crops to
hundreds of neighbors. Regularly,
those driving to and from work are
customers of the small truck farm,
which also houses about 60,000
layers.
Also, the Stahls are paid to do
custom mowing work in fields
owned by the housing developers.
Tim Fritz, who farms part-time
with his father Harold and brother
Jack near Bridgeport, east of Lan-
ffXil
John Valkovec, Klecknersvllle, right, farms mors than 500 acres, Including a great
deal of rented land In various locations. In the late 1980 s, Valkovec saw farmland
being lost to development at a rapid rate. “We saw that they were selling everything
around us," he said. “We got scared.” At left Is Tom Morgan, technician, Lehigh Val
ley Crop Management Association.
Tim Fritz, who farms part-time with his father Harold and brother Jack near Bridge
port, east of Lancaster, has learned to make the best of steadily encroaching develop
ment. Houses are close to his farm.
caster, has learned to make the best
of steadily encroaching develop
ment. Some land was sold to the
East Lampeter Township to be
used as a park. In essence, at least
that part of the farm is “pre
served” and will remain green.
The rest has been converted to a
productive grazing system. Fritz
‘We saw that they were selling everything
around us * he said, ‘We got scared,*
said the grazing system is not only
good for the cows and farm profi
tability, but also good for com
munity relations.
“Our location in an urbanizing
area has a lot of influence of what’s
possible,” said Leon Ressler, Lan
caster County’s ag environment
agent who deals with farm/urfoan
interface issues. Ressler admits
that choosing to develop land is
‘ ‘more profitable than the difficult,
uphill production battle that keeps
the land in production.
‘What do you do?* said Anita. *I mean , I
hate the developers , I hate what they f re
doing...,*
"People don’treally understand
that,’* said Ressler. "They see
open space with a romantic feel
ing. They don’thave a real concept
about the level of activity neces
sary to maintain the economic
structure to maintain that open
space.”
Rapidly, the county (which
accounts for 25 percent of the
state’s total agricultural produc
tion) is losing farmland to develop
ment In a 13-year span, between
1982 and 1995, about 30,000 acres
have been lost in Lancaster
County.
According to Tom Daniels,
director of the county’s ag preser
vation board, in 1982, the county’s
farmland numbered4l7,oooacres.
In 1995, about 388,000 acres are
devoted to farmland.
Farmland is being lost at a rate
0f2,000 acres per year. In 38 of 41
townships, there are about 310,000
acres in ag zoning. Strasburg
township will be adopting ag zon
ing this year, according to Daniels.
Selling the property to develop
ment can be a heartbreaking deci
sion. For many farmers, that simp
ly isn’t the option, despite enorm
ous market losses.
For the Stahls in Lititz, they
admit to feeling the pressures as
more layer contracts are dropped.
“The egg business is such that
they don’tneedany more houses,”
said Jacob. “The unfortunate thing
is that they don’t need any more
eggs-”
(Turn to Pago A 22)
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