A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 13, 1996
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LEBANON COUNTY
Although change in fanning prac
tices can be dramatic, it is not
always apparent to the rest of the
fanning community, must less to
the general population.
In that consideration, the Leba
non County Conservation District
recently sponsored a tour of seven
farms in the county to provide a
demonstration of the types of soil.
water and nutrient conservation
practices that are being installed on
area farms.
The program held by the
Lebanon County Conservation
District in cooperation with with
the county’s Chesapeake Bay
effort and USDA Natural Resour
ces Conservation Service (NRCS,
formerly the Soil Conservation
Service).
Those visited who have adopted
or plan to adopt some of the prac
tices, most using cost-sharing, said
they see benefit not only for con
servation of resources on their
farms, but also benefits to the oper
ation of their farms.
Farms visited included the Gary
and Barbara Lentz dairy farm,
Dream-On Holsteins, well-known
to area Holstein breeders; the Dave
and Christine Williams farm, fea
tured in Lancaster Farming for
conservation practices and for
lifestyle: the Thomas Shuey dairy
farm with an existing cost-shared Wolfgang said the overall pur
manure storage in the development pose of the tour was to inform the
of a spring development project general public and non
and waterway construction; the participating farmers on the possi-
Bairy Donmoyer dairy operation bilities of conservation projects
with a huge top-loaded manure through the Chesapeake Bay Prog
storage facility; the Harry Buck ram, or others through the Conser
dairy farm; the Peter Hanson farm vation District
with a self-installed stream cross- According to Wolfgang, up to
ing and cost-shared streambank $30,000 of Chesapeake Bay Prog
fencing (without permitting ram moneys are available per land
access); and the Richard Wizar owner to assist in the design and
At the farm of Peter Hanson, this cattle crossing was voluntarily put in at owner’s
expense, while the streambank fencing was paid for through a state Department of
Environmental Protection conservation program.
Storm water runnoff mixed with silage seepage has been
eating away at the soil next to the dairy barn and silos at the
jssed in coveralls, Gary l. -ntz, owner of this farm, talks with members of a Leba- Dave Williams I®” l '* * concrete pad to collect and air dry
non County Conservation District farm tour who look at this manure storage facility ; s **° »®«P*fl®. and a stormwater diversion are planned as
which handles the manure from hla replacement heifers. corrective measures.
Lebanon Conservation District Tours Farms
farm and nursery, where a federal
ly cost-shared wetland has been
constructed within the past year.
The tour was primarily arranged
by Douglas Wolfgang, agricultural
resources coordinator for the
Lebanon County Conservation
District, but also had assistance by
Ann Fackler with the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation
Service, and Johan Berger, repre
senting the state Department of
Environmental Protection.
Berger was involved with the
stream fencing project at the
Hansen farm.
Fackler, a technician for NRCS.
designs projects, does field work,
inspections, and works one-to-one
with farmers on technical aspects
of project designs, such as how it
fits into the farmer’s operational
plans, especially if a livestock
expansion is to be considered.
She is authorized to design and
approve waterways and diver
sions, spring developments, and
well-head protections. She also
does official inspections of manure
storages as they are being put in.
Not all the farms were Chesa-
peake Bay contract projects. The
Wizar shallow water wedand was
done through the U.S. Environ
mental Protection Agency andrep
resents the first wetland con
structed to specifications in the
county that serves as a model of
what can be done.
f
Ann Fackler, wearing sunglasses, with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service, talks about the shallow water wetland installed on a farm through cost shar
ing with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Doug Wolfgang stands in front of this manurs storage facility for Gary Lentz’s (sec*
end from left) Holstein herd and discusses some of the considerations made in con
structing the facility.
implementation of nutrient control *2 contracts with “high priority
and conservation practices. farms in the county’s portion of the
Other programs can offer cost- Chesapeake Bay watershed.
sharing or funding or streambank * P nont y fa™ B 816 “'? se
fencing, with senous problems needing
As of the tour, the county held “mediate help.
. (Turn to Page A 22)
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