How we can preserve farmland and open space
Old McDonald had a farm … I’m certain you can finish the rest of the verses. When this children’s song became popular, one-third of the U.S. population lived on farms. If the lyrics were rewritten to reflect the new McDonald farm of the 21st century, the sounds and language would have a different tune.
On this new farm, only one kind of animal lives by the thousands in a bio-security building. GMO corn and soybeans are planted with GPS tractors. Manure is spread according to a USDAapproved nutrient management plan. Immigrant labor is employed to get the work done.
Today, less than 2% of the U.S. population farms; in Lower Macungie Township that number is about .01%. It’s easy to understand why many Americans can visualize the Old McDonald farm better than the new one.
So why should it matter? The mega stores have shelves filled with the cheapest food in the world. We thrive so well that obesity is a health crisis. Why do we need to worry about preserving farmland?
We could consider the global issue of the 12% of the world’s population that is undernourished, or how to feed an estimated 2 billion more people by 2050. On the local level, the few remaining farms have virtually no impact on global food production.
Locally, we need to consider open space, water quality, reduction of service taxes, quality of local products and the overall quality of life. The biggest problem; farm profits can no longer pay for land.
How did we reach this point that farm profits can no longer pay for farms? Agriculture research, irrigation dams, interstate highways and cheap fuel all lead to tremendous agricultural production and, in turn, smaller farm profits. But how often have you heard a concerning news story about water, roads or fuel? Technology has been good for agriculture, but we probably could have managed it more wisely.
When my grandfather farmed in 1915, wheat was $1.50 per bushel, a doctor’s house call cost 25 cents. Current corn price is less than $4 per bushel. How many bushels of corn are needed for a doctor’s visit today?
Around the Lehigh Valley in the last 30 years, farmland has disappeared at the same time as cities and towns also fell into a decline. Developing large tracts of farmland was cheaper and easier than rebuilding the cities. Now we seek help from all levels of government asking to fix both problems.
Farming in this area is more challenging now than ever. As farms disappeared, so did many markets and businesses that supported local farms. Corn and soybeans are the predominate crops in the Lehigh Valley to feed the demand in the Lancaster County area. Many other issues arise, like neighbors finding some farming practices offensive, household trash littering fields, and severe crop damage by wildlife.
I’ve had people tell me how happy they were to buy a home next to a corn field, only to be disappointed years later when someone else built a home in that corn field, and then the next field. That has been the cycle in Lower Macungie, and now we’re running out of corn fields for residents to view. Open space has a large intrinsic value, but how can it be assessed in dollar worth for municipal planners?
Over the years, I have read statements from municipal officials claiming a need for development to pay for services. That is seriously flawed thinking. When development expands, so does the need and cost for more services. Residential developments typically receive more service benefits than they pay in taxes.
Using my farm as an example, since 1951 the East Penn School District has educated five children from my farm. In that same time period, if my 134-acre farm had become a residential development of 250 homes, how much would it have impacted the school district’s budget?
I have presented a rather pessimistic view for local agriculture. These few paragraphs only touch the complex issues faced with farming and land preservation in the Lehigh Valley. For generations, open space has been preserved by private farm profits. Times have changed; if farms are to be preserved for the future, the public will need to help in that task. How much is it worth to the public?
Lower Macungie Township has finally realized the value of farm preservation. Unfortunately, it is 40 years too late to preserve the vibrant agricultural community that once thrived here.
The township’s 900 acres of preserved land gives hope that a new generation of farmers can survive in changing times.
Mark Lichtenwalner is a farmer in Lower Macungie Township, where township officials this month approved an agricultural conservation easement to preserve Lichtenwalner’s 135 acres on Indian Creek Road.