Saving soils for future farming

Wayne County farms apply for preservation program

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

HONESDALE, PA — Seven farms in Wayne County will be evaluated this spring and considered for permanent preservation under the Wayne County Agricultural Land Preservation Program.

Since the program began in 1992, 29 farms in Wayne County have been accepted, preserving over 4,000 acres of farmland. Throughout the state, 2,536 farms have been accepted, preserving 292,362 acres, most of which are in Lancaster County, said Ed Pruss of Penn State Cooperative Extension. He described the application process as competitive.

Last year, only the 210-acre Stephen and Esther Kowalsky farm in Mount Pleasant Township was accepted. The county normally receives about seven or eight applications per year.

The seven landowners that have applied for easement in 2006 are comprised of 716 acres, including the 90-acre Alois and Ingrid Lukan Farm in Damascus Township. The largest is the 198-acre Paul Hunt Farm in Buckingham Township. Most are dairy or crop farms.

The main purpose of the program is to “keep commercial and residential development away from agricultural land,” said program administrator Christa Odell at the January 27 meeting of the Wayne County Commissioners.

Once a farm is accepted into the program, the owner surrenders rights to develop the land and, in return, receives compensation from the county and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In Wayne County, the amount of cash paid to landowners ranges between $900 to $1,100 per acre, Odell said.

Fifty percent of Odell’s score for each farm will be based on the property’s soil quality; the other half will be based on the degree of nearby development pressure, farmland potential and clustering, which Odell described as each farm’s proximity to other easements.

A county’s agricultural productivity factors in to how much funding the state Department of Agriculture decides to allocate for land preservation.

“Out of the whole pie of agricultural production in the state, Lancaster County has about 10 percent and Wayne has about one percent,” Pruss said.

The longstanding leader in agricultural land preservation is the southeastern Pennsylvania region, where land is valued highly for its soil quality, he said.

The sale of milk alone generates between $24 and $25 million annually for Wayne County dairy farmers, and every year between $10 to $15 million worth in other products are sold, including everything from livestock, vegetables and fruit, to wine and herbs, Pruss said.

“We do very well up here despite the topography, shorter growing season and other factors limiting production,” he said. “I think it’s a compliment to the farmers that they fair so well.”

Commissioners’ chair Anthony Herzog said, “Wayne County has an extensive valuable agricultural economy and it’s getting stronger, from herb production to animals, wine and various other ideas.”

In 2004 and 2005 the commissioners set aside $25,000 for the program. The state contributed $220,000 in 2004, but Odell is concerned that amount could be significantly reduced under Governor Ed Rendell’s proposed budget.

“It’s anybody’s guess right now,” Pruss said about the amount the state plans to budget for agricultural preservation.

“It’s a high priority for the Department of Agriculture, but he [Rendell] doesn’t treat it as such.”

Sandy Robison, director of Farmland Preservation in Harrisburg, said the only money available for the statewide program is little over $20 million, which was generated through Pennsylvania’s cigarette tax. Robison said additional funding should come from various other sources, but she expects the total to be a lot less than last year’s threshold of $43 million.

The state’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board is scheduled to meet on February 14 to determine the breakdown of money to be allocated for each county.