I met Charlie Miller on the job back in 1974.  I had just started working for the USDA’s Soil Conservation Service in Adams County.  As my SCS co-worker and I drove up along side a parked green pickup truck with the sign John F. Walters Inc. printed on the driver-side door, I could hear country western music playing loud enough to be heard over top noise of an idling Caterpillar dozer resting nearby.  The operator was sitting on the truck’s tail gate sipping a cup of steaming coffee and munching a cookie.  He smiled as we rolled to a stop and greeted us with a friendly “How do?”

Soil Conservation Technician Bill McCleaf introduced me to Charlie as the newest employee in the Gettysburg Field Office and the first woman Soil Conservationist in Pennsylvania.  I nodded politely and then listened intently as the two men discussed the progress on the conservation practice Charlie was carving onto the landscape that day.  I came to find out that almost every pond, diversion, waterway, or cropland terrace in the county was the masterpiece of either Charlie or his son, Mike.  The two were a team and could make an enormous project look easy once they set their blade and bucket to work.

I went about the business of setting up the surveying equipment to check the elevations and see where high or low spots needed to be filled in or taken out.  I was learning quickly how to level the Dumpey and run the surveying equipment, writing down the elevations in the notebook, while Bill moved the rod along the top of the mounded ground.  Bill was a patient trainer as he educated this college graduate about the job, helping me apply my book learning to real life.  Charlie sat aboard his machine and throttled up the dozer as we gave him the thumbs up on another perfect job.

As we pulled away from that job site, what I didn’t know after that first introduction to Charlie Miller was how much this man would mean to me and my life in the years ahead.  I found out later that, when he got home that day and met up with his son Mike, he informed him that if he didn’t marry me, he would divorce my future mother-in-law and marry me himself.  Of course, he was just teasing his stay-at-home son who spent all of his time running a Caterpillar front-end loader or hunting.  Charlie and Mike enjoyed working together and shared a love of the outdoors.  They saved up their time and money to travel out West to hunt elk and antelope.  They were close to one another, both on and off the job.

Eventually that summer, I met Mike who had just finished building a huge pond for Purina Mills, near Camp Hill.  He was building a diversion terrace and clearing out old trees for Guy Donaldson, an Adams County fruit grower who would become president of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau many years later.  I waved to the dark-haired and dusty driver as the tracks of his machine clacked loudly over the dry ground.  Without a break in his concentration, Mike kept creating a channel to safely carry storm water across the steep hillside.  Was he watching my surveying techniques out of the corner of his eye?  As I packed up our equipment and was heading back to the truck, I noticed a slight nod in our direction.  That was the beginning of three decades together as Mike and I became friends and then husband and wife in October 1975.

Charlie and his wife Kathaleen welcomed me into their family with open arms.  It took me many years to shift from “Charlie” to “Dad” but I eventually made the transition.  He was always a big cheerleader for Mike and me as we plunged ahead with our future goals.  When Soil Conservation Service transferred me from Adams to Berks County, Charlie never complained when his son and earth-moving partner picked up and left home to follow his wife’s career path.  Dad kept on building ponds and constructing conservation practices in Adams County, and eventually on the farms that Mike and I bought in Berks County.  Just four years ago, Dad jumped down off the big “Cat” for the last time in order to be with mother who was suffering from dementia and needed his constant care.  A few months later, Dad suffered a stroke that affected his left side and changed our family’s life.

After he was released from the hospital, Dad moved to a nursing home near Gettysburg.  The care he received from the nurses and staff brought him back to life.  Even though he was confined to a wheel chair, Dad always kept a positive perspective on his situation and tried to cheer up the other residents whenever he could.  As we wheeled around the hallways or along the pathways outside, Dad would look enviously at the mechanized chairs that some of the folks operated independently.  He commented that he wished he could have a chance to drive one of them someday.  I let him try out the control lever on a parked chair one day as we squeezed past.  His right hand gripped the knob with a familiar ease.  I could almost hear the engine roar once again as both of our memories drifted back to those long-ago days when the smell of fresh earth, green fields and warm sunshine filled our senses.

Dad’s final hours this week were spent with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren at his bedside.  We were blessed to be able to say goodbye and share a few more memories with him before his passing.  A man of great faith and a big, strong heart, Charlie Miller has left his mark on the fields of Adams County.  Many of his ponds and earthwork masterpieces now outlive the man who built them.  And while a tombstone marks the final resting place for this special man and his wife who are now joined in heaven, his lasting monument will always be the conservation work he created on the land that he loved.  Thank you Charlie … thank you, Dad.

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

One of the best things a parent can do is pass along the necessary skills in life to help their children achieve their goals.  It was a proud moment this week when Emilie received an envelope in the mail notifying her that she had once again received special honors for two of her Hereford cows.  Called the “Dam of Distinction” award, this recognition is for cows in the Hereford breed that have made their mark in the beef industry.  These individual cows have met the strictest requirements of the Hereford breed for early calving, reproductive efficiency, calving intervals of no greater than one year, and weaning weight ratios in the top end of the breeder’s herd.

Hereford cattle at Deitschland Farm have been recognized by the American Hereford Association in the Dams of Distinction listing since 1999.  Emilie’s first cow to reach this special award was in 2000.  It was exciting for her, at age 15, to have accomplished an honor that took me twenty years in the Hereford business to achieve the year before.  I was thrilled to share in the realization that all of our family's hard work was noticed by the national breed association.  That year both Emilie and I had cows recognized by AHA, and were among the 607 breeders nationwide who were listed in this elite group.

Since then, Emilie and I have teamed up or traded off in having cows earn Dam of Distinction honors.  From 2001 to 2007, we’ve only missed one year to have at least one of our cows make this prestigious list.  Unfortunately, due to injuries sustained by our herd bull in 2004, we missed making this honor roll but take pride in the seven years when top cows in our Hereford herd have made the national list.

It has become somewhat of a contest between mother and daughter as the fourth generation "cattleman" in my family makes her mark in the Hereford industry.  Emilie’s herd has been growing since her first birthday when Mike and I gave her a heifer calf as a gift.  We continued that tradition until she was about ten years old and her female numbers were climbing close to half the herd.  Through her years in 4-H, FFA and the Junior Hereford Association, Emilie has learned how to manage and market her cattle.  She has purchased cattle from other breeders that have done well in the herd.  But, the greatest satisfaction comes from having cattle bred and raised exclusively on the farm achieve top honors.

One cow that has done well for Emilie is a bred and owned Hereford that would never win a blue ribbon at a livestock show.  But, her performance outshines her herd mates every year.  Productivity isn’t always wrapped up in the prettiest package.  She out produces herself and has earned a permanent place in the herd.  Lucky for us that the potential buyers of this heifer calf changed their mind and picked another Hereford to take home.  Emilie decided to hang onto her and see how she would turn out.  Glad she did.

Earning these honors within the industry are special benchmarks for us.  It helps us measure our progress and improvements when stacked up against every other Hereford breeder in the country.  It’s great to know our report card has a few A+ cows on it.  Emilie’s two cows in 2007 were part of a group of 1,903 listed throughout the breed.  There were only 630 breeders in the country to have Dams of Distinction listed, and only eight in Pennsylvania.  This was another Gold Star accomplishment for the Hereford cattle she has bred and raised as a young Pennsylvania cattle producer.

As a proud parent, who is happy Emilie is finding her own strong future in the beef industry and agriculture, I wanted to share her success story.  Both Mike and I are happy to know some of the skills and lessons we’ve shared have been part of Emilie’s “toolbox” for achieving her goals. We know hard work, determination, and her desire to learn and improve will keep her on the list of Hereford breeders who have earned a place in the record books.

Congratulations, Emilie.

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

The future of agriculture is in good hands.  I make this statement on the heels of judging a regional FFA contest this week.  The students who stood before me were poised, enthusiastic, and understood many of the tough issues facing farmers today.  It is not always an easy task for those of us involved in agriculture to talk about topics like rBST and milk labeling, cloning, animal welfare and disease, organic farming, the honey bee crisis, “green” architecture, biotechnology, and high tunnel alternatives for fruit and vegetable production.

I enjoyed the three hours of listening and learning.  It was encouraging to hear most of the students share real life applications of their research topics on their family farms or where they work.  Some of the high school students have already assumed “grown up” responsibilities on their farm operations, from handling irrigation of vegetables to milking cows.  They are getting the on-the-job training needed to step out of high school and into an agricultural career.  These lessons beyond the classroom are invaluable for teaching our future farmers about the facets of agriculture that aren’t always translated in text books.

Thinking back to my own family farm experience, I applied many of the lessons I learned growing up on a commercial beef operation to my life in agriculture today which includes raising Hereford cattle.  My high school classes, especially trigonometry, helped Mike and me build our VPI-style cattle barn with just the right height and angles.  My collegiate training at Penn State helped us determine how much pressure we needed to push water up our steep Berks County farm hills to water troughs in our pastures.  Classes in animal husbandry, agronomy, and soil science laid the foundation for my future career as a farmer, soil conservationist, and agricultural coordinator.  Learning continues on a daily basis as I read about new technology in trade publications, attend seminars, and network with other farmers.

Secretary Dennis Wolff commented at the Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting that farmers are in the minority, representing about one percent of the population.  While that is not a news flash, I was surprised that our numbers had shrunk by another percentage point.  The Secretary was not optimistic that these numbers would increase in the future, but instead would continue to drop.  He pointed to the trends during the past century that found agriculture getting bigger, more efficient thanks to technology, more mechanized, and with fewer farmers in the picture.  He emphasized the need to communicate with the 99% of the population that doesn’t earn a living off the land and tell them the story about farming in the 21st Century.

Our young spokespersons in organizations like FFA, 4-H, Young Farmers, Farm Bureau and the Grange have a big task ahead of them.  The agricultural realities they will have to deal with are far different than the ones my Dad or I faced when we got started farming.  But, these young people are better prepared than ever before to assume the challenges that lie ahead for the farming community, if this week’s contest is any gauge of their abilities.  They know the topics, understand the issues, and have learned where to get the right answers.  They are able to apply what they know and to communicate this information in a way that people can understand.

In the pages of Lancaster Farming each week, I read about many of our youth being recognized at the national level for their accomplishments.  They are representing Pennsylvania agriculture proudly, and bringing attention to our state’s leading industry.  Their talents and time keep the Keystone State in the spotlight across our country, letting everyone know that agriculture is still a viable part of Pennsylvania and the Northeast.  Their success stories need to be acknowledged by all of us in agriculture.  Our young people need to be encouraged to continue in the agricultural field by those of us whose path they will follow someday.  They will be the few who help feed the world and farm the land in the future.  Give them a hand.

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

The word about agriculture was spread across the nation this week as the National Agriculture Week was celebrated. While the official event concludes this Saturday, March 22^nd, those of us in the farm community need to keep talking about the importance of agriculture each of the 51 weeks remaining until we mark another Spring Equinox.

In Berks County, we began our organized effort to bring awareness about agriculture to the general public on Sunday when our local paper, the Reading Eagle, ran a story about the week ahead. Monday morning found three of us travelling to the city of Reading to join radio talk show host, Mike Faust, on his WEEU morning show, Feedback. We spent an hour talking about farming and the challenges we face in the industry.

Ken Sanner, a dairy farmer from Greenwich Township who earned the Master Farmer title a few years ago, brought his own cheering section and biggest supporters --- his wife, Denise, and son, Ethan. At six-years-old, this future farmer was fascinated by the inner-workings of the radio station. He listened intently as his dad fielded questions from outside callers and the radio show host. For his good behavior, Ethan took home a St. Patrick’s day gift from Mike Faust. My guess is that this Leprechan's treasure, disguised as a mug, and his radio show memories will be something Ethan will hold onto for years to come, along with all the other souvenirs he will collect as he grows up following his Young Farmer parents’ footsteps.

Also joining me on the radio program was Penn State Extension’s Family Living and Consumer Science educator, Sue Giachero, who took charge of our Ag Day Baby celebration. Sue’s daughter just missed giving us the first Ag Day Baby at Reading Hospital, delivering in the late afternoon on March 19^th. But, Sue got to combine work and pleasure on Ag Day as she presented the basket to another new mom and infant, and still catch a few special moments with her own happy, but tired, family.

Dairy farmer, Diane Hartman, was still waiting for Saint Joseph’s Medical Center’s call on their baby’s arrival as our Ag Day shifted into evening. The hospital remarked that their babies had arrived earlier in the week. We decided to welcome which ever baby was born before or after midnight on March 20. None of us controlled that part of our celebration.

The cooperation we received from the community was outstanding. St. Joseph’s Medical Center had agricultural facts changing every seven seconds on their electronic billboard along one of our major highways. Our County Commissioners officially proclaimed National Agriculture Day and presented a beautiful document that will be displayed at our Ag Center throughout the year. Copies of the proclamation were distributed to the farm businesses and organizations who gathered at the Ag Center on Thursday to network about current events impacting agriculture in our county. They will be posting these proclamations to let people know our county’s top elected officials support the farm community.

Even though our agricultural youth were on spring break, they took time away from their school vacation to be at the Ag Center to present a galvanized water tub filled to overflowing with food items donated by Berks County’s food industry. Bountiful Berks will be become our “buy fresh, buy local” theme in the months ahead. A big thank you goes out to everyone who made this afternoon presentation to our County Commissioners a huge success. They truly appreciate the entire “farm family” that keeps agriculture number one in Berks County.

There was only one question that was posed to me by reporters from the Reading Eagle that I couldn't answer: Is there something farmers do only on the first day of Spring that is tied to the March equinox? I turned to a long-time Pennsylvania Dutch farmer, and we both shrugged our answer: None that we could think of. Planting peas, potatoes and onions was connected to final snowfalls and the moon cycle, rather than when the sun crosses the equator in March and there are equal lengths of day and night everywhere on earth. I referred them to the Old Farmer's Almanac and our Kutztown University's astronomy department for a better response.

I greatly appreciate the coverage given to our event by Lancaster Farming in last week's edition and by following up on the Ag Day Baby story.

I have shared our local experience in this week's blog in an effort to encourage anyone interested in helping to promote our agricultural industry to get involved. The National Ag Day website, organized by the Agriculture Council of America in Kansas, has been invaluable in helping us plan our event. We even posted our Open House on their website calendar at the encouragement of our County Chief Clerk, Terry Styer, who also turned out for Ag Day at the Ag Center. She is already thinking about Ag Day 2009 and what Berks County can do to build on this year’s successful event.

While it took some work and coordination, it was a fun-filled week that brought farm organizations, agri-businesses, individual farmers, and supporting agencies together to deliver the message: Agriculture --- from Field to Plate --- You Can’t Live Without It!

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil. Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

Get ready to celebrate!  National Agriculture Week begins March 16^th and concludes on March 22^nd.  On Thursday, as we welcome the first day of Spring, farmers and every person who eats at least one meal a day need to observe National Ag Day --- a day to reflect on the agricultural industry and its place of importance in our everyday lives.

As the new Agricultural Coordinator in Berks County, I decided two weeks ago that it would be a travesty to allow this special occasion to pass unheralded by our local farm and non-farm communities.  With a little planning advice from the Agriculture Council of America, I began to pull things together so we could successfully get the message out to the general public about how their lives depend on farmers and the food we produce.

I am thrilled that the collaboration has been enthusiastic.  With the cooperation of the farm organizations in the county, we will be holding an Open House at our Agricultural Center the entire day.  In the morning, a task force will come together to talk about agriculture’s issues, needs and concerns and how they might be addressed.  We will review our efforts to preserve farmland and farmers in today’s economy.

In the afternoon, the youth of our farm community will gather together to present an overflowing galvanized water tub filled with the bounty of Berks County’s food industry.  Bountiful Berks will be become our “buy fresh, buy local” theme in the months ahead.  At the end of the day, our collection of food and agricultural products will be presented to our team of County Commissioners who have already demonstrated their support for the entire agricultural industry in our region, from field to plate.  Our 4-H and FFA youth leaders will learn a valuable civics about the importance public officials play in the total picture of agriculture and the impact they can have on its future.

I’m excited about a partnership we have formed with our two hospitals, Saint Joseph’s Medical Center and the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, in coordinating an Ag Day Baby Celebration.  Working with Extension’s Family Living and Consumer Science educator, Sue Giachero, we will be presenting each hospital’s lucky mom and infant with a basketful of information, nutritious snacks, and other gifts.

We truly appreciate the enthusiasm and support of these two health care facilities that will be helping us spread the word about the importance of good nutrition and the opportunities consumers have to buy local food.  On an electronic billboard they have along one of Berks County’s major highways, St. Joseph’s Medical Center will be displaying facts about agriculture and announcing National Ag Day throughout the entire first day of Spring.

Test your knowledge of the Ag Facts that will be shared with travelling motorists.  Did you know that:

·        More than three million people farm in the United States. Individuals, family partnerships or family corporations operate almost 99 percent of U.S. farms.

·        More than 22 million people are employed in farm or farm-related jobs, including production agriculture, farm inputs, processing and marketing and wholesale and retail sales.

·        According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, 50 percent of the farmers are 55 years of age or older, up only three percent from 1997. Average age of the principal operator is 55.3.

·        Forty-one percent of U.S. total land area is farmland (938.28 million acres). In 1900, the average farm size was 147 acres, compared to 441 acres today.

·        The top five agricultural commodities are cattle and calves, dairy products, broilers, corn and soybeans.

·         U.S. farmers produce 46% of the world’s soybeans, 41% of the world’s corn, 20.5% of the world’s cotton and 13% of the world’s wheat.

·        In the 1960s one farmer supplied food for 25.8 persons in the U.S. and abroad. Today, one farmer supplies food for 144 people in the U.S. and abroad. Agriculture products are America's leading exports.

·        A new technique called "precision farming" boosts crop yields and reduces waste by using satellite maps and computers to match seed, fertilizer and crop protection applications to local soil conditions.

·        Farm equipment has evolved dramatically from the team of horses used in the early 1900s. Today’s four-wheel drive tractors have the power of 40- 300 horses. This makes for a large capital investment, as farmers pay anywhere from $97,000 for an average 160 horsepower tractor to $170,000 for a four-wheel drive model.

·        In the 1930s, before modern farm machinery was available, a farmer could harvest an average of 100 bushels of corn by hand in a nine-hour day. Today’s combines can harvest 900 bushels of corn per hour-or 100 bushels of corn in less than seven minutes!

·        The efficiency of U.S. farmers benefits United States consumer in the pocketbook. Americans spend less on food than any other developed nation in the world. On average in 2004, Americans spent only 2% of their disposable income on meat and poultry, compared to 4.1 percent in 1970.

These are interesting facts just waiting to be shared with your neighbors and friends.  Today, more than ever, we farm in a fish bowl.  We are surrounded by people who watch every move we make.  We count on these people to buy what we produce.  We depend on one another to have a good life.  Now’s the time to build that local partnership and make it a positive experience.

Take the opportunity to share the good news about modern agriculture.  Open communication will help folks understand what we do to make a living on the land.  We have lots to talk.  When people listen to what we have to say, we can help to dispel misinformation about modern agricultural practices.

On National Ag Day, let someone know that farmers care about the environment, their livestock, and the world around us.  Call into a radio talk show, put a sign out by your mailbox, or write a letter to the local newspaper editor.  Speak up for agriculture.

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

March Madness!  While most folks associate that phrase with college basketball playoffs, my March Madness refers to the invasion of starlings at the farm.  These winged pests appeared out of no where last week as February leaped into March.  With their arrival, my husband Mike pulled out the shotgun and began the yearly ritual of waking me up at the crack of dawn with a blast of birdshot from the barn.

He dislikes these unwelcome squatters that sneak into every nook and corner of our nineteenth century stone barn.  Whenever he sees a chance to shoot these elusive targets, he takes it, forgetting that some of us are trying to steal a few extra winks in the morning.  I can only hope the switch to Daylight Savings time and a few more minutes of darkness in the morning, will let me snooze in a few more days of winter hibernation.  I’m not quite ready for the earlier sunrise and gearing up for the long list of chores that springtime brings to the season.

Starlings aren’t the only birds to return to our farm recently.  A familiar Redtail hawk has taken up residence in a nest high in a tree top looking over our pasture.  We think this is the same bird that was hatched here last year.  As a juvenile, he kept a close eye on the activities around our barn, dining on mice and other delicacies that scurried across our fields.

The curious thing about this member of the raptor family, however, is that this Redtail has an appetite for starlings.  At the sound of Mike’s shotgun being fired, this opportunistic bird of prey swoops into a nearby treetop and waits to see if the human hunter’s aim is accurate in knocking down the targeted starling.  It seems the Redtail has been conditioned to scope out and scoop up the “free lunch.”  He drops from treetop to ground, retrieving the easy meal and flying off to his perch to tear into this small morsel of meat.

It has almost become a game between Mike and the Redtail.  I’m not sure who is keeping score to see how many points Mike makes with his fowl shots.  The winner is always the hawk.  The loser is always the starling.

Our barn has become the home for a nesting pair of American kestrels, also known as Sparrow hawks.  I don’t believe I have ever seen one of these members of the falcon family actually eat one of the multitudes of sparrows that inhabit our barns.  And they don’t seem to have the same appetite for starlings as their bird-of-prey brother, the Redtail.  I am glad they have returned to their nest in the peak of our limestone-sided barn because they do enjoy dining on small rodents and various insect pests, like grasshoppers.  Their aerial acrobatics are fascinating to watch as they hover lower and lower in the sky until they finally pounce upon their hapless prey.

I watched in dismay last summer, however, when a baby bunny became lunch for the kestrel and its nest of fledglings.  While I understood this was simply the food chain story playing out, this nest of bunnies was one that I had deliberately tried to save after mowing a field of grass hay.  The nest had survived the haybine and the rake.  As I made my next round flipping windrows to dry, the fur-lined nest of squirming cottontails caught my attention.  I threw hay back over the nest in hopes the mother bunny would return to care for them.  I also wanted to give them some shade cover, and camouflage them from the piercing eyes of our resident hawks.  I asked Mike to avoid that tiny section of the field as he baled hay the next day.  Later in the week, we saw from a distance that the bunnies had not been abandoned and were growing up.

One bunny decided to leave its littermates and venture out into the world.  It had not learned the lesson of nature that defined prey and predator before it left the nest.  Despite several zigs and zags, the courageous cottontail’s adventure was short-lived.  I turned away as the Sparrow hawk lifted off to share its successful hunting trip with its mate and babies.  It is all part of life’s cycle here on the farm.

As winter turns into spring, I welcome the month of March.  It is a time of new chances.  It is a time to deflect what has been disheartening in the past, and look forward to the renewal that the new season brings to the spirit.  It is a time to be uplifted and joyful and to play the game with gusto, whether it’s basketball, farming, or life.

 Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

I was contacted by a Berks County farmer in February who had just received a legal notice that he, along with 79 other people who had attended a public meeting in Lower Heidelberg Township, Berks County, were being sued.  The only thing these people had in common was the fact that they had exercised their constitutional right to assemble as a group to participate in their local government’s process.

Needless to say, this farmer was quite upset.  It was going to require him and everyone else who had been named as nominal defendants in this lawsuit to hire personal attorneys to clear their names.  In the mean time, the fact that he had been served with papers and was being sued would impact him in other ways besides aggravation.  His personal credit would be marred until this matter could be resolved, his ability to get a loan threatened.  This ridiculous action by attorneys hired by a potential land developer had already cost him precious time, taking him away from an already work-filled day at his own farm just because he decided to give up an evening and attend a township meeting.

In shocked disbelief at what I was hearing, I kept trying to listen for a clue that would explain why this sad day for democracy was unfolding.  There had to be some legitimate reason why 80 upstanding citizens were now a target of a law suit.  Even after reviewing the legal paperwork the farmer provided, I couldn’t fathom why they were being sued.  It seems to just boil down to the fact that a land developer was not getting the answers he wants from the township to wink at a long-standing requirement that a certain farm stay in agriculture.

Many years ago, a brick manufacturer had purchased this farm in order to “mine” clay material for brick production.  After just a few loads of clay were removed, the company decided the quality of the materials was not what they expected and abandoned the site.  But, in order to have permission from the township to remove the soil in the first place, the company had agreed to return the land to its original use ---agriculture.  For a while, the farm was leased out, and later it was sold to the housing developer.  Despite appeals at all levels of the legal system, the township’s first decision to require this farm to be kept in agriculture was sustained.  The farm is not an isolated parcel, and is within close proximity of several preserved farms and others that are in the township’s agricultural security area.

This latest attack by attorneys on interested citizens appears to be a “last straw” desperate attempt to break the will power of the community that wants to protect its agricultural zoning requirements and previous land use decisions.  Angering 80 people might make them contact their local officials and get them to reverse their decisions of the past.  The developer also decided to try the tack of claiming the local planning commission members acted illegally because they had never been officially sworn in and some forgot to submit annual paperwork to the state Ethics Commission.  The only punishment for not filing these forms is a letter asking the civic volunteers to get it done.

The irony is that some of the 80 people being sued were actually attorneys who were attending the township meeting to represent clients in matters totally segregated from this land use appeal.  It didn’t take them long to counter this legal insult by filing their own legal papers against the developer, et.al.  Unfortunately, the regular township residents who were interested in exercising their civic duty and stay involved in their local government’s actions were now part of a legal battle that would cost them time and money.

While all this may seem bizarre, it was all too true for the farmers and other defendants who had been named.  My reaction that this was ridiculous did not erase the reality that something had to be done.  If this type of litigation would succeed, imagine the long term effect this would have on people’s willingness to participate in government.  It is hard enough to get people to spend an evening at a public meeting at a township or school district.  If just showing up and signing an attendance sheet could subject people to legal action, I doubt that too many brave souls would show up to listen or comment.  This would have an absolute chilling effect on citizen involvement in government, and would rip away constitutional rights.

In my role as Berks County’s agricultural coordinator, I decided to bring this to the attention of our County Commissioners.  After a meeting with some of the impacted farmers, the Commissioner Chairman, Mark Scott, took the matter before the Board for action.  They voted to allocate funds from a restricted account of non-tax payer dollars --- accumulated environmental fines paid by a landfill company --- to defend the 80 citizens.  They hired an attorney from outside of the county to handle the case.  This lifted a huge burden off the backs of the private citizens, and diffused the negative reaction the developer was hoping for.

The legal battle will continue for months and perhaps years ahead.  Thousands of dollars will be spent to ensure that a township’s decision to protect a farm from development is upheld.  Just as important, this case will defend the rights of citizens to express their opinions to elected officials and government without fear of litigation when they make the right choice to get involved in the public process.

To read more about this, go to the Website for the County of Berks, www.countyofberks.com and click on Lower Heidelberg case. 

 Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized. 

The ground is blanketed in white snow.  Our Hereford cows and calves are oblivious to the flakes that gather on their well-insulated coats.  At times, their faces almost disappear against the white background as they stand quietly on the pasture fields.  They tolerate the cold and winter weather as they patiently wait for spring and green grass.  It is their caretakers who mind the chill winds and frigid temperatures as we haul hay and silage to the field.

No matter how much I bundle up to face the elements, I dread going out into the storm.  On our farm, we still use tractors without the comfort of enclosed cabs.  Mike is the tough one in our family, driving feed to the hungry Herefords in rain, sleet and snow.  Mike’s only protection against the elements is layers of clothing under thermal coveralls.  Only in the worst storms does he don a hat.  It is a well-worn black felt cowboy hat from his youth.  Perhaps the childhood memories attached to it help warm his heart as well as his head as he labors to fill the tractor's bucket loader and our cows’ empty stomachs with corn silage.

My job is generally opening gates and watching cows as Mike deftly maneuvers the tractor through mud, snow, and ice-covered obstacles depending on the day's weather.  He hollers for anxious cows to move out of the way, herding them on tractor rather than on horseback as his childhood’s cowboy heroes might have done.  Reluctantly, the cows give way to the approaching machine and driver, waiting to dive into the sweet-smelling fermented feast that will keep them satisfied until tomorrow’s meal.

Waiting between loads gives me plenty of time to think about extraneous things. It helps keep my mind off the chill that threatens to permeate my soul as I stand vigil at the gate.  I think about the majority of people who are sitting comfortably inside their cozy, warm homes on this wintery day, oblivious to the howling winds and freezing flakes that pelt against my face.  Few occupations rival farming for having to confront Mother Nature’s most challenging elements on a daily basis.  Farmers could live up to the same motto that has been assigned to our mail carriers:  “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.”

I began to wonder where that saying came from.  Once inside my farmhouse, I turned on my computer and searched on-line and found that the original saying is actually: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”  It was said by a Greek historian, Herodotus, roughly 2,500 years ago.  He was speaking about Persian mounted postal couriers who carried messages during the war between the Greeks and the Persians around 500 B.C.  He obviously admired their bravery as they performed their duties.

While most of us attribute this saying to the U.S. Postal Service and assume it is their official motto, I learned that it is not their official slogan.  In fact, they have no slogans.

The reason it has become identified with the U.S.P.S. is because, back in 1896-97, when the New York City General Post Office was being designed, an architect came up with the idea of engraving Herodotus' saying around the outside of the building. From that time on the saying has been associated with U.S. postal carriers.  The building is now a national landmark and occupies two full city blocks.

I don’t know of any barns that bear the same sort of inscription, but perhaps it should be painted around each and every one.  We would have to substitute farmers for couriers, but the message is just as true.  Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stops farmers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Things are certainly different for postal carriers today than when the Persian couriers rode their horses through dangerous terrain in times of war.  The life of a farmer has changed dramatically, as well, during the past 2,000 years.  But we still don’t let the challenges of man or nature slow us down or keep us from faithfully fulfilling our jobs.  Too many mouths are depending on us every day.

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

It was the evening before Valentine’s Day, 2007.  I had been looking forward to this night for two months.  I was going to be meeting an older man for the first time.  We were brought together by a newspaper clipping.  A phone call in December set the stage for this rendezvous at the Cracker Barrel near Hamburg, just off Interstate 78.  I was looking forward to getting to know this man who was an intriguing character with a distinguished voice.  “How will I know you?” I asked.  He described himself as he hung up the phone after our initial conversation.  I anticipated the thrill I would have in getting to know him better.

Throughout the day, I watched as the snowflakes fell more furiously toward the already snow-covered ground.  The inches were accumulating, and I began to worry that my meeting with this stranger was not going to be happen.  My apprehension increased as the forecast shifted from snow to freezing rain and ice.  I decided this date would have to wait.  I could hear the relief in his voice as we both agreed we were wiser to cancel our date than be caught somewhere on a snow-slicked highway.

Both of our spouses breathed sighs of relief as 80-year-old Bob Ensminger and I hung up the phones.  Neither of us would be venturing out onto treacherous roads this evening.  Our decision proved to be quite fortunate in hindsight after this winter storm closed Interstate 78 for days.  People were stuck in their cars with no where to go.  Bob and I would have been part of the pile-up of cars and trucks.

Our meeting on that historic eve was planned to talk about our love for historic barns.  Ensminger, who is the well-known author and expert on the Pennsylvania Barn, had sought me out after reading a news article in the Allentown Morning Call about the survey I had done as chairman of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.  As a result of a very unscientific sampling, the Center had received more than 1,000 responses from farmers and barn owners who wanted to tell us about their barns.  Our focus was on barns built before 1960.  As far as I was concerned, that was the turning-point year when metal buildings started to spring up on farmsteads.

The Center’s survey confirmed that Pennsylvania has a wealth of old barns of various styles, some several centuries old.  They are still in pretty good shape, for the most part.  The majority are still being used as integral parts of the farm operation, even though some feel these timber-framed structures are obsolete and no longer useful.  My goal is to keep them standing where they were originally raised.  They are still icons of our agrarian heritage, and can be an economic resource for the owners without dismembering the timbers and selling them for other uses.

The media picked up on the Center’s survey report and articles about Pennsylvania’s historic barns began to appear in major newspapers across the country.  Interested folks kept calling my legislative office to find out more information on how Pennsylvania was planning to save these rural landmarks.  I was asked to speak at a national meeting of preservation organizations in the fall of 2006, just before my seven terms in the legislature was coming to an end.  It was satisfying to know that my legislative accomplishments involving these wonderful old barns had captured the attention of barn enthusiasts from across the country.

This coverage is what brought Bob and me together.  My final day in Harrisburg had come and gone, but Bob’s persistence in following leads eventually tracked me down at my farmhouse.  He began the telephone conversation by saying “You don’t know me, but my name is Robert Ensminger!”  I nearly fell over when I heard this pronouncement from the caller.  This was the man whose book rested prominently on my living room’s coffee table.

As I propped myself up against the wall to keep from falling over from shock, I told Bob that I absolutely knew who he was and had both editions of his book. Bob said he heard I wanted to create a statewide organization to help preserve old barns.  I told him this was a huge dream and I was only one person and wasn’t sure I was up to the enormous task.  Bob offered to help me achieve this goal.  We agreed to meet soon.   I needed some time to wrap up commitments I had made before retiring from the legislature, attend my daughter’s graduation from Kansas State University, and get farm chores that had been put off for 14 years completed.  Launching a non-profit to save barns was not on my radar screen at that point.  We agreed to meet after the holidays and picked the evening before Valentine’s Day for our first of many meetings to organize the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania.

In less than a year, we have grown our ranks from the original duo of Ensminger and Miller to include volunteers from across the Commonwealth.  We have also attracted the attention of the National Barn Alliance, and will be co-hosting the national conference on historic barns in June.  From the 5^th to the 7^th, historic barn buffs will have the opportunity to learn more about these amazing buildings.  A full day of lectures will take place on Friday, followed by a dinner featuring centenarian author John Heyl, along with Ensminger and others whose experience is unmatched.  On Saturday, Bob and another HBFF director, Greg Huber, will be leading a tour of historic barns in the Oley Valley of Berks County.  Watch for registration details on our website: www.pahistoricbarns.org.

The HBFF of PA is a work in progress.  We’ve come a long way since the Valentine winter storm.  We’ve developed a standard survey form for folks to complete and return to record their barns and tell each structure’s story.  Bylaws and membership brochures added to our creative work load.  Our Board of Directors continues to grow and represent the diverse regions of our Commonwealth.

Despite a slight Valentine’s Eve delay, the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation’s road to recording the history of Pennsylvania’s historic barns is open and ready for barn lovers everywhere to travel in the months and years ahead.  Let’s make it a date for June 5-7, 2008 to meet in Kutztown, Berks County.  There’s no snow in the forecast!

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.

The 2007 Census of Agriculture was delivered to our farm, just as it arrived in the mailboxes of thousands of other farmers in the United States.  But, unlike some farmsteads where owners immediately completed the official document that tracks the well-being of our nation’s agricultural industry, ours was put in an ever-growing pile of paperwork for safe-keeping until we could give it the special attention it deserved.  I had seen the deadline date of February 4^th on the cover letter from the Department of Agriculture chief, along with the not-so-subtle warning that there would be penalties if I forgot to complete the twenty-four page document on time.  No problem, I thought, as I mentally added this task to my “to-do” list.

How could so many other things have come in between my good intentions of filling in the blanks with all the pertinent answers to the government’s questions about my farms?  As I sat down last Saturday morning, having checked off countless days and chores from the time I opened that big brown envelope and its unquestionable deadline, the reality of its due date being only 48 hours away was all too apparent.  I calculated the hours before our rural delivery postal person would be dropping off and picking up our mail.  I had four hours to get the paperwork done.

I suppose I should be flattered that federal officials at USDA care so much about our farm operations.  Their five-year cycle of caring forces me to analyze where we are in our progress to succeed as farmers every half decade.  I just wish I could remember where I filed the last progress report in order to compare answers.  I know its somewhere in my office, tucked in between tax returns and cattle records.

With no time to lose, I piled last year’s planting and harvesting papers, and our calf-crop record books on the kitchen table.  I turned to the first page of the questionnaire and began to write.  How many acres do we own?  How many acres do we rent?  Where are our farms located?  Easy!  At this rate, I predicted I would be finished with this exercise in a half hour or less.

With each turn of the page, the questions took more research of records.  Counting on recall was not going to cut it.  Maps, bills, receipts, and piles of paperwork surrounded me as I kept checking off the answers and completing the blocks.  I began to look forward to those questions where I answered “no” and was given the go ahead to skip to the next section.

On the way through the document, I have to admit I enjoyed the mini-agronomy lesson as I read down the list of possible field crops.  It made me think about the farmers who raise peppermint and spearmint in enough quantity to be reported in pounds of oil?  I had never heard of proso millet, emmer and spelt, or triticale.  If I had a bit more time, I would look them up and further my education, but the deadline was looming.  I checked off our corn and hay crops, and broke down the records between silage and grain, and hay and pasture, respectively.  As I poured through the pages, I was glad that our farms were not extremely diversified.  Beef cattle and their feed dominate our efforts on the farms.

I found myself daydreaming of spring time on this Groundhog’s Day Saturday in the winter month of February once I reached the Section on vegetables, potatoes and melons.  Visions of a garden filled with fresh delicacies filled my thoughts as I read down the list of possibilities that would fill a cornucopia.  I wondered whether I would have time to plant a garden this year.  I began hoping our mailbox would hold this year’s latest seed catalogue to peruse and plan rows of tomatoes, beans, carrots, pumpkins, and more.  The section on berries took me totally away from the task at hand as fond memories of picking black raspberries by the pail-full along old fencerows and woodlot edges on our farms took precedence in my mind.

It was a warm summer day in the late 1980s and my mom and dad were spending the day helping Mike and me tackle the many chores that we faced on our first farm.  While Dad and Mike worked on building the barns, Mom and I took Emilie to old fields where brambles had grown up over the years.  We were determined to gather enough mouth-watering berries to bake pies later.

 As we moved from thicket to thicket, Emilie raced ahead to find the next bush that was brimming with fruit.  Suddenly, a rush of brown and white dashed out from practically under our feet, startling all of us. My first thought was that a Hereford calf had gotten under the wire fence.  Then I realized the blur was actually a spotted fawn that we disturbed from its quiet resting spot.  I was sure its watchful mother was keeping a close eye on the intruding human trio.

I looked around for my Mom, and she was no where to be seen.  In a few moments, I spotted her nearby as she gathered herself and her berry bucket up from the grassy patch where they both had landed during the excitement.  Unscathed, Mom dusted off and began to laugh as we realized this tiny deer had scared the wits out of us, just as we had probably scared the spots right off its back.

Coming back to the task at hand, I began the task of counting cows.  How many had calved?  How many were steers, bulls, heifers, calves?  How many did we sell, and what did they weigh?  Trying not to count any animal twice, I used calculator, fingers, hatch marks, and finally filled in the facts.  I could skip over sheep and lambs because the only ovines to ever take up residence on our farms were Emilie’s 4-H Market Lamb projects.  And they exited in 2002.  No poultry have strutted around our place since the last of the layers we had gotten at a long-ago chick day found themselves in a pot of chicken soup.  Wild turkeys are the only ones that freely range through our farms’ pastures, and roost in our woods.  They are joined by the deer and bees that claim squatter’s rights on our farms, but are of no interest to the government unless “domesticated.”

The income and expenses sections reminded me that April 15^th and its income tax reporting date would be sneaking up on me just as quickly as February 4^th’s census deadline.  I made myself a promise to quit procrastinating and get busy on that financial exercise just as soon as I put this one in the mail.  And then it hit me.  No way was this census paperwork going to make it from PA to Indiana on time if I mailed it Saturday and it had to arrive on Monday.

I suppose it was because of procrastinators like me that USDA has given us a Computer Age option.  I fired up my PC and reported my farm’s progress on line.  In just a few more minutes, our farms will be part of the total picture of agriculture in the United States.  Blended with everyone else’s stories, these facts will paint the future of farm programs and policies for the next five years.  It was time well spent if it helps to keep agriculture strong and supported by policy makers in every state.

I will be especially interested in the outcome of the question on historic barns built before 1960.  That inventory may help generate programs to keep them standing.  As a woman farmer, I was pleased to see the female side of farming represented in this census survey, giving us equal status as farm operators.  Its great to be a statistic worth counting since the future of farming is counting on us.

Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.