CHADDS FORD (Delaware
Co.) Dick Breckbill has farm
ing in his blood. Long before he
could legally drive a car, he oper
ated farm machinery to spread
manure on his father’s dairy
farm in Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania.
Today, decades later, he
recalls that first responsibility
as a key initiation into farming.
Dick Breckbill is now gradu
ally turning over the reins of
Breck-A-Dee Farm located in
Chester County to his three
sons. Together, the four men
tend to the family’s 130 dairy
cows and Breckbill’s three
grandchildren feed the calves,
among other chores.
Farms such as Breck-A-Dee
make Chester County the sec
ond most productive agricultur
al county in Pennsylvania
behind Lancaster County. In
addition to producing food and
other products, agriculture con
tributes significantly to the
state’s economic infrastructure.
Less apparent but equally
important, agricultural land is
open space, which provides envi
ronmental benefits such as
recharging groundwater.
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Brandywine Conservancy Preserves Farmland
Between 1992 and 1997, how
ever, more than 200,000 acres of
Pennsylvania farmland, an area
equivalent to half of Chester
County, were lost to commercial
and residential development.
The explanations for this loss
range from farmland’s general
flat and treeless topography,
which, for developers, is the
most sought-after ground, to
high estate taxes which can
inhibit the transfer of farmland
to heirs.
Recognizing the need to save
farmland, the Brandywine
Conservancy established its
Farmland Preservation Program
in 1991. The program helps
farmers continue farming by
assisting them in protecting
agricultural and natural lands,
enrolling in preferential proper
ty tax assessment programs,
and taking advantage of estate
and income tax benefits avail
able under existing federal and
state legislation. Financial sup
port from two private founda
tions currently enables the
Conservancy to offer this assis
tance at no cost to farmers.
Since its formation, the pro
gram has been instrumental in
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permanently protecting more
than 3,000 acres of farmland.
Working with individual farm
ers, Conservancy staff members
prepare comprehensive plans
that identify current land uses.
These plans are then used to
develop specific preservation
strategies.
The protection of Breck-A-
Dee Farm is a prime example of
the Farmland Preservation
Program in action. Beginning in
1993, Breckbill and the
Conservancy investigated a
variety of options to keep the
farm in the family after Dick
Breckbill’s retirement.
Breck-A-Dee’s flat, treeless
topography and extensive
frontage along roads made it a
target for development. The
value of Breckbill’s farmland
increased (although this
increase was based on his farm’s
value as potential development
land, not as agricultural land)
and his property tax rose. Had
nothing been done, his sons
would have been hard pressed to
pay the estate taxes on the
assessed fair-market value.
Working with Conservancy
staff. Breckbill significantly
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reduced the appraised value of
his farmland through a combi
nation of agricultural and con
servation easements. As a
result, his property taxes
declined. After initial consulta
tions that determined how his
land was utilized, Breckbill
placed an agricultural easement
on 130 acres through the sale of
development rights to the
Chester County Agricultural
Land Preservation Board. The
easement dictates that the land
be used solely for agricultural
purposes and restricts future
commercial and residential
development. The county’s agri
cultural easements purchase
program is funded in part by a
Land O’Lakes Urges
USDA To Move
Forward With Russian
Pork Export
ARDEN HILLS,
Minn. Land O’Lakes
called upon the USDA
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 31, 1999-A37
statewide tax cigarettes.
By selling his development
rights, Breckbill incurred a capi
tal gain tax. To offset that tax,
Breckbill donated a conserva
tion easement to the
Conservancy on 40 acres of
mature lowland forest and pas
ture-land that are the headwa
ters of Elk Creek. This environ
mentally significant land will be
protected forever, contributing
to a healthy stream and natural
habitat for wildlife.
Since, 1967, the Brandywine
Conservancy’s Environmental
Management Center has provid
ed conservation solutions to
landowners, farmers, municipal
ities, and developers.
to complete the process
of purchasing 50,000
metric tons of pork as
part of a long-delayed
food aid package to
Russia, and strongly
urged the USDA to in
crease the program
commitment to 100,000
metric tons.
Land O’Lakes out
lined its position in a
letter from Land
O’Lakes President Jack
Gherty to USDA Secre
tary Dan Glickman.
The food aid package
was first announced
more than nine months
ago. Since that time, the
USDA has issued and
rejected two “tenders"
or offers to purchase the
product, while supplies
of pork in cold storage
have risen to a record
level of more than a
half-billion pounds. In
his letter, Gherty said
that the “price crisis
facing U.S. hog produc
ers makes it critical that
the USDA move for
ward and even expand
the Russian food aid
pork purchase.
“The 50,000 metric
ton purchase could re
move close to 20 per
cent of the current sup
ply in cold storage,”
Gherty wrote. “With the
expectation of large hog
numbers again this fall,
it is critical the current
tenders for purchase are
completed, and these
supplies are quickly re
moved from storage."
Gherty also indicated
that Land O’Lakes sup
ports the National Pork
Producers Council in its
call for the USDA to
purchase an additional
50,000 metric tons of
pork for delivery to
Russia this fall and win
ter.
“A total purchase of
100,000 metric tons
would make a signifi
cant reduction in cold
storage supplies and be
an important supportive
factor for hog prices in
the near-term,” Gherty