Hard-pressed dairymen are drawn to gas leasing

By TOM KANE

WAYMART, PA - Like a lot of dairy farmers who aren’t able to make a decent living milking their cows, Joe Davitt, who owns a 145-acre farm near Waymart in Wayne County, is looking to sign a lease with the gas companies that are combing the area, looking to tap into the lucrative Marcellus Shale deposit.

Because he’s getting such a low price for his milk from the local co-op, Davitt is unable to buy a new tractor, which he desperately needs, and do other needed repairs, like put a new roof on his barn, which he also sorely needs.

If he signs a lease, he can get $1,500 an acre, he said. “Times $1,500 an acre by 145 acres! That’s money I could really use right now. Maybe next week, I could get $2,000 an acre.”

Not one penny of that money should go into the farm, he said. “The farm is a business and should pay for itself,” he said. “Any good business should pay for itself.”

Any money he gets from gas drilling would go into reconstruction of his family house, which is across the road from the barn. Once fixed, he would move into it.

“Right now, I’m renting a house and paying about $1,100 a month for all expenses,” he said.

It’s hard to argue with his logic. The gas companies are reaping big benefits from the needs of farmers who own large tracts of land and, like Davitt, have very few options.