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By Linda Franz, Sentinel Reporter, February 23, 2007

Last updated: Thursday, February 22, 2007 4:49 PM EST

When Cumberland County commissioners approved spending $3.6 million for farmland preservation a year ago, it was coupled with about $6.3 million in state Growing Greener funds to give the biggest boost to the program since its inception in 1989.

The unprecedented amount of money for farmland preservation “allowed us to increase our volume of preserved farms,” says Kirk Stoner, director of the county’s planning office. “We were normally doing about three to four farms a year.”

Instead, a first round of five farms have been preserved and a second round of 20 farms that are in the process of being preserved will add about 2,900 acres, bringing the total number of acres preserved in the county to more than 13,000 acres.

It also allowed the county to move some of the landowners into the program now instead of having them wait years, Stoner says.

“We really want to preserve the best soils in the county and strengthen the agricultural economy,” says Rebecca Wiser, director of the county’s farmland preservation program.

Making an investment

Wiser visits each farm to talk about production.

“That’s something a lot of other counties don’t do,” Stoner says. “We’re out there working with our farmers. It’s important to look out for their well-being.”

Even with the infusion of funds, Stoner points to a waiting list of dozens of families waiting to preserve their farms.

“That’s indicative of program demand,” he says. “We’re making an investment in the county. These farms are the most productive with the best soils.”

How it works

The program works by purchasing agricultural conservation easements — better known as development rights — from the farmer. The land continues to be the farmer’s private property and the farmer retains all privileges of land ownership, except the ability to sell the land for nonagricultural development or develop the land for nonagricultural purposes.

Because the easements are permanent, when a landowner sells the land, the easement goes with it and the new owner must use the property for agricultural purposes.

Wiser says one challenge to the program was issued in Lancaster County. A school wants to put a road across a preserved farm. That challenge is still being fought in the court system.

Making headway

County Commissioner Rick Rovegno, the commission liaison to the ag preservation board, says he is pleased with the progress that was made with the extra funds available.

“It allowed us to make a lot of headway this past year,” he says. “That was an advantageous opportunity with the Growing Greener II initiative which allowed us to leverage state dollars.”

Commissioners allocated a more modest $250,000 for farmland preservation in 2007. Rovegno says commissioners are waiting to determine the probability of a Growing Greener III initiative.

“We want to be in a position to take advantage of that,” Rovegno says. “I think what you’re going to see for this year and next year is a relatively more modest amount put out there.”

The farmland preservation effort is joined with the county’s greenways and open space planning.

“I think that there will come a day, perhaps a future generation from now, when they look back and say, ‘Boy, are we glad that board, when the real throes of development pressure were on us, took measures to preserve some of the rural character of Cumberland County,’” Rovegno says.

Leaving a legacy

When Wilbur and Peggy Wolf added 137 acres of their Penn Township farm to the preservation program, it connected farms already preserved to the east and west and helps form one of the largest clusters of preserved land in the county.

Filling in the clustered areas “makes it more viable for the future,” Wiser says.

It’s more effective to have farms clustered together than scattered, because it’s easier to remain in farming when your neighbors are farmers, she says.

The Wolfs see preserving their farm as their legacy to future generations.

“We enjoy it being open, being in this large block, to provide some benefits to society,” Wilbur Wolf says.

“I think down the road, 30, 40, 50 years from now, people are going to think, ‘Man, aren’t we glad the county did this?’”

Farmland preservation is helpful in other ways. People who put their land into the farmland preservation program value the rural way of life, Wolf says.

“Water is critical. I think for society as a whole, the preservation of the aquifer recharge is an important side benefit,” he says.

The Wolfs raise beef cattle on their farm.

“We keep a cow herd, pasture them out over the summer,” Wilbur Wolf says.

He usually sends his finished animals to North Mountain Butcher Shop.

“It’s supporting the whole agricultural community,” Wolf says.

Selling development rights can be a big benefit to farmers who wish to enroll.

“We can preserve the land, but it’s more and more difficult to preserve the farm as a business entity,” Wolf says.

“It does give the person who enrolls some capital to expand, put into the business. It does help them with their cash flow.”

Keeping farmers in agriculture is difficult, Wolf says.

He points to one Cumberland County family that has preserved its farm but “there’s nobody in the family that wants to run the farm.”

As a result, the family rents their farm out to another farmer.

Young people see the kids they went to school with getting other jobs that pay well with shorter hours and more benefits, Wolf says.

“It has to be in many respects a way of life as well as an occupation.”