Overview of Lancaster County Farmlands

Lancaster County contains some of the most productive farmland in the country. More than half of the county is covered by “prime” farm soils. Consequently, about two-thirds of the county is currently in farm use. Primary crops grown include hay, corn, wheat, tobacco and vegetables. Dairy and poultry production also are predominant.

In 2000, Lancaster County ranked first among Pennsylvania counties in nearly every measured livestock category and either first or second in more than half of the measured categories of crop production. In addition, when compared to the average county in Pennsylvania, Lancaster has more than six times the number of farms (5,910) and nearly four times the acres of farmland (421,000 acres).

Lancaster County has long been known for its Plain Sect Culture and the farms of the Old Order Amish and Mennonites. The cultural commitment of Old Order groups to the agrarian way of life has contributed significantly to the continued agricultural use of land within the study areas. Although historically these groups have engage in farming as a primary occupation, today experts indicate that as many as 75 percent of Amish men make their living in activities other than farming.


The Need for Farmland Preservation

Lancaster County covers 603,000 acres of southeast Pennsylvania and contains some of the most productive farmland in the United States. About 75 percent of the county has soils rated Class I, II, or III by the Soil Conservation Service. More than 50 percent of the county has Class I and II soils considered "prime" farmland. According to the 1992 Agricultural Census, almost two-thirds of the county, or 388,000 acres, are currently in farm use. The 4,700 farms in the county average 86 acres, but this small farm size is deceptive. The county generated $750 million in farm gate sales in 1993, ranking it first among counties in Pennsylvania and in the entire Northeastern United States, and eighteenth among all counties in the nation. Dairy, cattle, and poultry are the leading enterprises, and crops grown include hay, corn, wheat, tobacco, and vegetables.

The strength of Lancaster's farming sector suggests that a county farmland protection program should not be aimed so much at preserving open space, but rather at maintaining a working rural landscape where the farming industry is a vital component of the local economy. The open space that farms provide contributes both to a thriving tourist industry of an estimated five million visitors a year and $500 million in annual revenues in 1993 and to the overall quality of life which has made the county a very desirable place to live.

Development pressures in Lancaster County have risen steadily over the past 40 years. Between 1950 and 1980, the county population increased by 127,000 people. By 1992, over 422,000 people were living in the county. In April 1994, U.S. News and World Report named Lancaster County as one of the ten booming areas of the United States, (U.S. News, 1994, p. 69).

The visible loss of farmland and open space together with serious traffic congestion have convinced many county inhabitants that managing growth is essential if the landscape and the quality of life it provides are to be sustained. A March 1995 poll by the "Lancaster New Era" found that farmland preservation was the number two priority among county residents, second only to crime and just ahead of traffic congestion (Lancaster New Era, March 21, 1995, p. 1)

Reprinted in part from "GIS and Farmland Protection: The Case of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," Tom Daniels, Ph.D., Jay Parrish, Ph.D., Jordan Henk, Copyright 1997 Daniels, Parrish, Henk


Integrated Farmland Protection in Lancaster County

Lancaster County has employed a complementary set of farmland protection techniques to help channel growth away from productive farmland. These techniques include: agricultural zoning, Agricultural Security Areas, the purchase of development rights, and growth boundaries. Together, they have proven to be a reliable approach to protecting famland.


Agricultural Zoning

In 1976, East Donegal Township adopted the first agricultural zoning ordinance in the county, and other townships soon followed suit. Thirty-nine of the county's 41 townships have since adopted agricultural zoning ordinances encompassing over 320,000 acres.


Agricultural Security Areas

Act 43 of 1981 enables townships to create "Agricultural Security Areas". Agricultural Security Areas are voluntary; the creation, modification, or termination of a security area is a matter of landowner initiative and township supervisor approval or denial.


The Purchase or Donation of Development Rights (Conservation Easements)

In 1980, the Lancaster County Commissioners appointed a nine-member Agricultural Preserve Board to develop and administer farmland protection programs. The Preserve Board determined that the county should pursue a purchase of development rights program and accept the donation of development rights. For the donation of a perpetual easement, a landowner may receive a deduction for federal income tax purposes.

In addition to the County Agricultural Preserve Board, the Lancaster Farmland Trust also secures perpetual conservation easements on productive Lancaster County farmland. The Farmland Trust is a non-profit organization. Because of the work of the Farmland Trust and the County Agricultural Preserve Board, 55,000 acres have been preserved. This ranks Lancaster County number one in the United States for the number of farmed acres preserved.


Designated Growth Areas

The Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board pursues a policy that is unique in the United States: a strategic effort to the purchase development rights on farms fairly close to development to help create "Urban Growth Boundaries" and "Village Growth Boundaries" which will limit sprawl out onto productive farmland. In turn, these growth boundaries will help to encourage more compact development which is cheaper and easier to service. An urban growth boundary is drawn through an agreement by a city or village and surrounding townships with the aim of providing enough buildable land for the next twenty years within the boundary; and urban services--particularly public sewer and water--will not be extended beyond the boundary. Without the project area, urban growth boundaries are associated with Gap and Christiana. Village growth boundaries are associated with Ronks, Soundersburg, Gordonville. Paradise and Kinzers.


Critical Mass and Land Prices

Lancaster County is making good progress toward the protection of a critical mass of farmland to enable support businesses to survive. Land prices for farmland, however, continue to be high, averaging $5,000 to $6,000 an acre; these prices make it difficult for existing farms to expand and for the entry of new (young) farmers. So far, the integrated package of agricultural zoning, agricultural security areas, easement purchases, and urban growth boundaries has been a reliable farmland protection program. The real test will come in the next fifteen to twenty years when an additional 100,000 people are expected to live in Lancaster County.


Route 30 Farmland Studies

The study team has collected information on the farmland enrolled in preservation programs in the study area from the various municipalities, Lancaster County and Lancaster Farmland Trust. The next step will be to conduct a Farmland Assessment Study. This assessment will focus on the agricultural features on each farm in the study area, including structures, water sources, access routes and farm parcels. Each property owner or tenant farmer who may be effected by proposed improvements will be contacted for this assessment. The information collected will assist us to avoid bisecting farms, leaving areas inaccessible to farm and disrupting water sources.


Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computerized data management system designed to captive, store, retrieve, analyze and report on geographic and demographic information,

Lancaster County has employed GIS to perform three important functions to support its farmland protection effort: 1) identification of high quality agricultural land; 2) the annual ranking of easement sale applications; and 3) maintenance of a dynamic data base over time on farmland protection parcel status, including agricultural zoning, agricultural security areas, farms under easement, farms with easement sale applications.

GIS will be utilized throughout the farmlands evaluation for the Route 30 Corridor Improvement Study. The farmlands data collected from Lancaster County and Lancaster Farmland Trust, soils data and data collected through farmer interviews will be included in project mapping. An impact analysis will be conducted using GIS and will identify the impacts to easements, Agricultural Security Areas, other protected farmland, prime farmland, etc. This information will be updated as the project continues.


Farmer Interviews

To more fully understand the impact that alternatives would have on individual agricultural operations - and the larger farming community - we are collecting detailed information on farming activities. This information will focus on property history, types of agricultural buildings, current usage and future planned usage of the property. More specific information needed is found on our Farmer Interview Form. It is important for farmers to describe to us specifically how their operation could be affected by the proposed alternatives. Representatives from the firm A.D. Marble & Company are conducting this work.