A36-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 11 1998
Transferable Develop-
ment Rights: Bringing
farmers and communities
together
Over the past few years, agri
culture has changed dramatically.
In fact, it has changed so much,
that it has caused many who do
not work in agriculture on a daily
basis to fall behind in ag technol
ogy.
For instance, many local offi
cials, in areas across the United
States, do not have farming back
grounds and arc not aware of the
multitude of regulations farmers
deal with from day to day. From
pesticide management to erosion
management, many townships use
a hammer to deal with regula
tions, when all that's needed is a
screwdriver.
In order to help both farmers
and officials overcome this hurdle,
let's take a look at our townships'
agriculture "toolboxes." Do they
have the right tools for allowing
the entrepreneurial spirit of farm
ers to grow while maintaining the
character of the community?
One option that may be found
m a township agriculture toolbox
is Transferable Development
Rights (TDR). Basically, the idea
behind this tool is that it allows a
landowner in specifically desig
nated agricultural or conservation
areas to sell their right to develop
their land to a developer, who can
m turn use the land to increase the
density ol development in other
areas
Benefits of TDRs include
* Conservation land remains
essentially undeveloped while
residential development is still al
lowed
51 C onscrvation landowners
still receive a portion of the de
velopment value of their land.
* Developers can increase their
density only by purchasing devel
opment rights, thereby cutting
costs and selling more units
Vigilant Fungicide
Applications Needed
ROBERT ANDERSON
Lancaster County Extension
Agronomy Agent
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
The last week of June provided
weather conditions in Lancaster
County that were favorable for
blue mold to produce spores and
infest new plants.
Many fields have very active
colonies of blue mold which are
easy to see. Look for yellow spots
on the top of the leaf which has a
blue gray mold growing on the un
derside. The mold on the under
side of the leaf is easier to find in
the early morning while plants are
still wet.
In order for blue mold to sur
vive and thrive it needs tobacco
leaves that are wet for prolonged
periods and cloudy weather. Lan
caster County’s weather last week
was very favorable for the fungus
and brought a rash of new reports
of blue mold.
As the number of reports in
crease. the number of potential
* The conservation area is pro
tected while development is ac
commodated in designated growth
areas.
So, how does a township set
up a TDR program in their area?
First, a legal framework for the
program must be adopted. Second,
"sending" areas, lands where de
velopment rights are created and
from which they can be sold, and
"receiving" areas, designated areas
into which development rights are
transferred, are created.
Landowners in a sending area
are not required to sell their devel
opment rights, but they do have
the option. And, anyone is eligi
ble to purchase development
rights, but only property owners
in receiving areas can use the
rights to increase the density of
development.
According to Alan Strock, ag
lender at Blue Ball National Bank,
property ownership is often com
pared to a "bundle" of legal rights,
with each stick in the bundle rep
resenting a separate divisible
right.
TDRs do not work for every
one, nor do they work in every
area. It is important to research
your options before choosing
what tool to use from your agri
culture toolbox.
There are many resources for
information regarding the specifics
on TDRs and other options. Don't
hesitate to contact the Penn State
Cooperative Extension, your
county Planning Commission or
the Farm Bureau. These organiza
tions will be able to help you find
the tools that best fit your com
munity.
Feel tree to send your com
ments and ideas to Jim Shirk at
The Lancaster Chamber of Com
merce & Industry PO Box 1558
Lancaster, PA 17608-1558, by
email at jshirk@lcci.com or call
him at (717) 397-3531.
sources of new infection expands.
Last week also saw additional
fields with systemic blue mold.
Once systemic, blue mold makes
the tobacco plant unharvestable.
Blue mold can be prevented and
controlled with frequent applica
tion of approved fungicides. The
only EPA-approved fungicides for
tobacco are Dithan DF and Acro
bat MZ.
For best results, these fungi
cides need to be applied before
blue mold is seen in a field. Spray
schedules for fungicide applica
tions range from 5 to 7 days de
pending on weather conditions.
Both fungicides for blue mold
control require complete coverage
of the tobacco plant with the
fungicide. As tobacco plants get
larger, sprayers will need to be
modified to include drop nozzles,
high pressures, and adding new
larger pumps in order to apply the
large volumes of water requited to
adequately cover and protect the
crop.
JOHN BERRY
Penn State Lehigh
County Agriculture
Marketing Agent
Selling
Most buying decisions are first
based on an emotional commit
ment to a product or a person.
Psychologists call this building of
a relationship “social bonding”.
The successful salesperson is able
to “bond” personally to a potential
customer building a trust relation
ship. A national sales magazine
survey revealed six common
salesperson performance factors:
1) The relationship with the
client remained after the sale.
2) They established trust rela
tionships.
3) They understood the cus
tomer’s needs.
4) They showed enthusiasm.
5) Each considered selling an
art form.
6) Each had a high personal in
tegrity.
Today’s customers are buying
more than product or service, what
they are really buying is an ade
quate solution to their problem, a
trusted consultant and value added
service.
Listening
Most of us don’t know how to
really listen because we are too
busy trying to figure out what to
say next. Here are some ideas to
develop “active” listening skills:
1) Make eye contact.
2) Do not let your mind wan
der.
3) Ask clarifying questions.
4) Paraphrase back.
5) Bite your tongue
6) Watch your tone of voice
and slow your rate of speech.
7) Limit your physical move
ments.
ACROBAT “ MZ for Blue Mold Control in Tobacco
Application to Small Plants (transplanting up to 3 weeks)
♦ Use one hollow cone nozzle over the Jj "
♦ row and one on each side of the plant \ '7/nW'' ,yV
♦ Apply 20 gallons per acre of water
volume
♦ Spray at pressures above 60 PSI to \
achieve good droplet dispersion n \
Application to Mid-Size Plants (3-5 weeks after transplanting)
♦ Use hollow cone nozzles located over- "X T~"
the-top and to the side of the plant V 4 s >,
♦ Apply 40-60 gallons per acre of water
voiume
♦ Spray at pressures above 80 PSI to '
achieve good droplet dispersion -
Application to Mature Plants (6-8 weeks after transplanting)
♦ Use multiple hollow cone nozzles with - 1 i ——r
drops
♦ Prevent drop nozzles from touching
middle and lower leaves as much as ' -"
possible SfP*
♦ Apply 80-100 gallons per acre of water '
volume
♦ Spray at pressures over 80 PSI to r :
achieve good droplet dispersion
DIRECT RETAIL
Farm Marketing
The average listener retains
only half of what is said in a 10
minute talk. Only 25% of what is
retained is properly understood.
Most of selling involves listening
and understanding.
Social Bonding
A key to making social bond
ing work is showing empathy for
the customer. Identify with your
customers concerns. If you can il
lustrate your conversation with
examples of similar situations,
you draw the customer closer to
you. What you are trying to do is
let the customer know that you
really understand what they are
saying. You let the customer
know you are speaking their lan
guage. In any sales transaction, it
is important to trust each other
before doing business together.
Social bonds can be ruined eas
ily by inattention, expressing our
frustrations, trying to get the cus
tomer to think our way and over
loading the customer with infor
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Richard Bollinger and Nicole
Eisenhower, both of Lancaster
County, are the 1998 recipients of
Keystone Farm Credit’s two
$l,OOO scholarship.
Richard is the son of Thomas
and Barbara Sue Bollinger of Lit
itz. He was graduated from Eph
rata Senior High School where he
was a member of the National
Honor Society, Pennsylvania
Math League, Quiz Bowl Team,
and participated in the Big Buddy
and Reading Buddy Programs,
Science Fair, and FFA. Richard is
a member of his church youth
group and attended the Pennsylva
nia Governor’s School for the
Receive Scholarships
mation. Avoid alienation of po
tential customers by smiling
warmly, nodding your head, mak
ing eye contact and taking notes.
Think of a time you were at ease
with a salesperson. Try to use this
experience as an example for
modifying your sales technique.
Are YOU being served?
I feel I’m an average consumer
In my rush through life, not much
thought is given to why I like a
particular market or what my ex
pectations are. If I take the time to
think and observe, learning takes
place when a particular experience
is rewarding or disappointing. Us
ing my own experiences as a cus
tomer, I am better able to meet
the needs of potential customers
for my business.
The customer might not al
ways be right, but they are always
the customer. Just remember to
imagine yourself as a customer
Would you want to shop here 7
would you want to buy this prod
uct? Are you being served?
Agricultural Sciences. He is the
recipient of many FFA awards and
was selected as “Teen of the
Week” by the Lancaster New Era.
.Richard plans to attend Cornell
University where he will study
animal science.
Nicole Eisenhower is the
daughter of Tim and Roxanne
Grube of Elizabethtown. She was
graduated from Elizabethtown
High School where she was a
member of the National Honor
Society. She has been very active
with 4-H and FFA and has re
ceived several awards for her acti
vities. Nicole plans to attend Mon
tana State University to study pre
veterinary medicine.