A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 22, 1997
Oberholtzer Farm Is Lancaster’s Outstanding Conservation Cooperator
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster
Co.) Like a complicated puzzle
as seen from the air, cropland on
the Oberholtzer Farm moves in
mysterious ways strips that are
narrow in fields that are not uni
form with rows that end in points,
and some rows that simply end for
no apparent reason.
But the seven-generation farm,
operated by Clair N. and M. Laver
ne Oberholtzer and family in
Mount Joy Township, learned
through the years that intensive
natural resource management was
key to survivability, so that was
how the fields were cared for.
For the farm’s conservation ste
wardship, the Oberholtzer family
was honored on Thursday night
with the Lancaster County Conser
vation District’s 1997 Outstanding
Cooperator Award. The family
accepted the award at the district’s
annual banquet, attended by more
than 250 at Yoder’s Restaurant in
New Holland.
According to the district, the
farm has many interesting features
going all the way back to William
Penn. One of these is 50 acres of
woodland located in four different areas of the
farm, Also, there are 16.3 acres of pasture in
three different locations.
According to Gerald Heistand of the conser
vation district, who narrated a slide presenta
tion, the farm has a “lot of history” and chal
lenged any farmer in the county to work the
kind of difficult terrain on the Oberholtzer
property and still keep conservation in focus.
According to the district, the catalyst for
changes to a more conservationaliy minded
approach to farming began in the 1960 s with
the help from the Elilzabethtown Vocation
Agricultural Department. InstructorElvm Hess
sparked Clair’s interest in having the Soil Con
servation Service (now called the Natural
Resource Conservation Service) come out to
the farm. When plans were put into place, a tot
al of 2,300 feet of waterway and 8,263 feet of
terraces were installed.
A few years afterward, a decision was made
to place in stnpcroppmg as a best management
practice.
Clair took over the dairy farm from his father
Samuel m 1974, purchasing it in 1981. Farm
land erosion on the west side of Oberholl/cr
Road was not as critical as the rest of the farm,
but Clair decided it would benefit from addi
tional conservation practices, so 200 feet of
waterways and 3,500 feet of terrace were con
structed. At the same time, a spring develop
ment was installed in the meadow below the
bam.
In 1993 a manure storage system was added
to the operation with assistance from the Che
sapeake Bay Program. Clair followed the dis
trict’s philosophy of working with erosion con
trol practices before adding a manure storage
structure to the operation. The storage structure
allows manure to be applied closer to the time
the crops can use the nutrients.
The Obcrholt/cr farm docs not have enough
manure to meet the nutrient needs, so starter is
used for com and alfalfa
On both owned and rented acreage, the farm
supports 75 cows, 25 heifers, and 25 calves
The cropland includes 96 acres of com, 42
acres of alfalfa, and 27 acres of wheat, with one
acre of rye. Proper terraces arc key in erosion
management Clair uses a rollover plow so the
furrow can be thrown one way three of the four
years The terraces on the farm are not parallel
there are point rows and the strips arc not all
uniform. So it takes special management strate
gies each step of the way to ensure the terraces
arc tilled correctly.
Also at the banquet, a special award was pre
sented to the Safe Harbor Water Power Corp.
for the special use of valuable rock material
when they neared completion of the Fish Pas
sage Project. The corporation realized they had
a surplus of 9,000 cubic yards of rock.
Although it would cost additional money, Safe
Harbor wanted to donate the material to help in
the Conestoga River stream bank stabilization
efforts.
Safe Harbor secured the idea
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engi
neers and the Pa. DEP. In four
months, Safe Harbor stabilized
approximately 1,200 feet of badly
eroding river bank. In addition, the
corporation improved the river
corridor by installing a series of
rock deflectors that serve to
enhance the in-stream habitat for
fish and other aquatic organisms.
At the banquet the Youth Con
servation School Service Award
was granted to Daniel Boyer, 17,
son of Diane and Raymond Boyer,
Mount Joy. Dan, a senior at
Donegal High School, attended the
Youth Conservation School in
1993. He then returned as counse
lor from 1994-1996. As a counse
lor, Dan provided supervision and
leadership to a group of 5-6 stu
dents. He is a senior at Donegal
High School. After graduation,
Dan plans to enter the military.
The district provided special
thanks to the Northern Lancaster
County Game and Fish Protective
Association for support of conser
vation education in Lancaster
County. The club owns a 150-acre
farm in northern Lancaster Coun
ty. They have hosted the Youth
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The Oberhottzer family was honored on Thursday night with the Lancaster County
Conservation District’s 1997 Outstanding Cooperator Award. The family accepted the
award at the district’s annual banquet, attended by more than 250 at Yoder’s Restaur
ant In New Holland. From left, Clair, Laverne, Jesslyn, and Brent.
Conservation School since 1981. education in the county. L. Nevin (which he served since 1989), was
The district presented several Greiner, who is stepping down as honored for his many years of
awards to those whose efforts co-director of the Lancaster Coun- involvement with the school,
highlighted conservation work and ty Youth Conservation School (Turn to Page A 29)
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