Agricultural Impacts How will you address impacts on farmland? So far, we have identified farms enrolled in farmland preservation programs. These programs offer a level of protection for farms, which we consider when selecting alternatives for further study. During the next step we will conduct a Farmland Assessment Study. This assessment will focus on the operation of each farm in the study area and the impact on agricultural production, farm buildings, water sources, and access routes. We will contact each property owner and/or tenant farmer whose farm could be impacted by the project for this assessment. As we continue our work, we will modify and refine alternatives - while maintaining required safety standards - to reduce the impact on farmland and farm operations. We will try to avoid bisecting farms, leaving areas inaccessible to farming, and disrupting water sources. Input from farmers at this stage is very important. We will rely on the farming community to identify the impacts of alternatives on farming operations. During the final design phase of the project, minor adjustments in the location and construction plans for the selected highway alignment could further alter impacts. To summarize the information collected during the Farmland Assessment, we will prepare a Farmland Assessment Report. This report will describe the preferred alternative and its impacts. This will be presented to the Agricultural Lands Condemnation Approval Board (ALCAB) for their approval, which permits PENNDOT to acquire agricultural lands for this highway improvement. Just compensation at fair market value will be offered to farm owners whose property is needed for right-of-way or for acquired property that is too small to profitably farm. However, the critical factor affecting farmland preservation over the long term is the effectiveness of land use planning at the local level. As part of the planning for this project, PENNDOT will lend assistance to local governments to facilitate the adoption of land use strategies that allow for growth, while protecting farmland. PENNDOT is committed to working with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to address these issues as the project moves forward.. What if a new highway bisects my farm? How would I get my team from one field to the other? We understand that we can lessen this project’s impact on agriculture in part by minimizing the number of farms that would be bisected. One reason the Southern Relocation Alternative is favored by many in the farming community over the other relocation alternatives is because it would bisect fewer farm parcels. We will work to assure that any new highway will be located to minimize the number of farms that would be divided into pieces. The pieces that remain, but are now detached from the primary farms, are residual parcels. In some cases residual parcels remain farmable and so we will provide access for equipment or livestock where needed. Public roads may provide access to these residual parcels. If not, we will explore ways to provide access by means of an underpass or overpass to landlocked parcels. What is done will depend on engineering considerations and the individual circumstances of farmers. In some cases residual parcels will not be able to be farmed by the current owner because access cannot be reasonably provided or because the parcel is too small to farm practically. In these circumstances PENNDOT will acquire the residual parcel at fair market value. It may then be sold as surplus property. If an adjoining farmer were to acquire it, it would remain in agricultural use. Would a new highway be fenced in? Yes, if a new, limited access highway were to be built then fencing would be installed along its length. This is done to keep animals and people from entering the right-of-way. If the Five-Lane Widening Alternative is constructed, then existing farm fencing on property that is acquired would be replaced, but no additional fencing is expected to be installed. What happens if a new highway takes my well? PENNDOT would provide for a new one. Furthermore, any wells that are permanently impacted by the project – are undrinkable due to a degradation of quality or go dry as a result of lowered groundwater levels – will be replaced.