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Guest Columnist:
Thomas D. Stouffer,
Executive Director,
Lancaster Farmland
Trust, and Member,
Agriculture Committee,
The Lancaster Chamber
Preserving good agricultural
land by placing perpetual ease
ments on farms makes good eco
nomic sense. In fact, only by
preserving our farms can we be
absolutely sure that the land and
infrastructure required for profit
able farming will be here for the
next generation-and for genera
tions after that!
The Big Myth
The claim that simply keeping
farms profitable today will pre
serve them for tomorrow is noth
ing but a big myth. This inaccu
rate assertion misses the fact that
m the short run, no farmer can
beat the return for building houses
or otherwise "developing." Cer
tainly, some farmers are able and
willing to delay "selling out to
development," but for the most
part, a rational "dollars-and-cents”
approach eventually dooms such
efforts to failure.
If the zoning permits it and
‘ OUt,N6
End Of Year Sale
Phone: (717) 397-3531
the demand is there, the farmland
will continue to disappear. This
simple fact points out the need for
continuing an aggressive farmland
preservation program-especially in
areas such as southeastern Penn
sylvania where the land is so fer
tile, and so threatened.
Preferential Assessment
Preferential assessment pro
grams for agricultural use (such as
"Clean and Green" in Pennsylva
nia) help farmers achieve some
degree of tax equity. We all know
that farmers pay far more in taxes
than they get back m community
services, and programs like Clean
and Green help to make up for
that disparity.
However, because those farm
owners only commit to refraining
from development for a limited
period of time, there is no guaran
tee whatsoever that those farms
are now or ever will be preserved.
In other words, preferential as
sessments help keep farms profit
able, but they do not preserve
farms.
As a part of public policy, ag
ricultural preservation should fit
into each community's long range
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5% OFF all Sputniks
1998 through January 9,
New business hours; 7;00 am * 5:00 pm
December 28,
All milkers and sputniks ordered and paid during sale days
will be delivered or shipped when you need them.
Planning and Zoning
On All Types Of Milkers and Sputniks
vision, and into the County's
comprehensive plan. Growth is
necessary to a healthy economy,
and in Lancaster County, for ex
ample, urban growth is encour
aged within well-defined village
and urban growth boundaries
Preservation efforts are then fo
cused on agricultural land outside
those boundaries. With good rea
son. it's certainly tougher to farm
when urban and suburban sprawl
encroaches on farmland.
Of course the zoning that pro
ceeds from good planning helps to
prevent sprawl, but we all know
that the combination of develop
ment pressure and change in local
government can undo years of
good planning. Preservation, on
the other hand-particularly when
several nearby farms are preserved
reinforces good planning and zon
ing in agricultural areas, just as it
reinforces the local long-term
commitment to farming. A
strong preservation ethic helps to
ensure that our precious agricul
tural lands are not viewed as sim
ply empty lands waiting for a so
called higher and better use. Agri
cultural land is already highly de
veloped.
The Future of
Preservation
Currently some 5% of the best
farmland in Pennsylvania is pre
served. Most is preserved with
public funds through the Pennsyl
vania Farmland Preservation Pro
gram; but a significant number of
farms have been preserved by non
profit organizations such as Lan
caster Farmland Trust. (More
than half of the Trust’s easements
were donated-by both "English"
and Amish farmers.)
When funds are provided to
preserve the thousand plus farms
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 2, 1999-All
still bn the state's waiting list, the
number of preserved farms will be
over 2,000. nearly 10% of our
best farms This is a remarkable
accomplishment when you con
sider we've been farming this land
tor some 250 years but have been
preserving it for only 20 years'
Every effort should be made to
find the funds to clear the waiting
list Once that critical task is
completed, we must concentrate
on efforts to provide appropriate
continuing property tax breaks to
landowners that preserve their
farms. Easements are perpetual;
and some perpetual benefit should
Conference Topics
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A
look ahead, marketing, crop
management, and environmen
tal considerations - these are
some of the hot topics to be pre
sented during morning breakout
sessions at the 19th annual
Delmarva Corn and Soybean
Technology Conference, Feb. 17
in the Wicomico Youth and Civic
Center, Salisbury, Md.
The conference again is being
sponsored by agribusinesses
serving the Delmarva area and
by cooperative extension at
land-grant universities in
Delaware, Maryland, and
Virginia.
Of special interest will be a
keynote address during the noon
lunch hour by Alan Guebert, an
award-winning agricultural
journalist from the heart of cen
tral Illinois farm country.
Guebert's topic will be "The
Financial State of Agriculture."
His syndicated column, "The
proceed from the commitment to
preservation 1
Back to Economics
The combination of planning
and zoning, preferential assess
ments, and preservation benefits
all our farmers. The record shows
that critical farm infrastructure
stays in place, and farms continue
to get top dollar when they're
sold-including preserved farms
The outlook for maintaining and
enhancing farm prosperity is also
bright This is as it should be. If
we can't be reasonably sure of pre
serving farming and farmers, we
shouldn't be preserving farmland!
Farm and Food File," appears
weekly in more than 70 newspa
pers throughout the United
States and Canada, including
The Delmarva Farmer.
The Feb. 17 action gets under
way at 8 a.m. with coffee,
doughnuts, and edible soybean
snacks, plus the opportunity for
farmers, educators, and
agribusiness representatives to
visit up to 50 educational and
trade exhibits.
Admission to the conference
is free. Tickets for the noon
lunch may be purchased at the
door for $5 each. No advance
ticket .sales will be made, as in
previous years. The formal pro
gram will end following the
keynote speech at approximate
ly 2 pm., but the exhibit area
will remain open for a least an
hour
Look for the Wicomico Youth
and Civic Center behind the
Salisbury Mall off Rt 50 in
southeast Salisbury.
1999