Farmer Forever

Our farm community lost one of its finest members on August 29^th.  That was the day Berks County farmer Ed Hartman died from leukemia.  His life of 82 years was devoted to agriculture, his fellow farmers, and his family.

Ed had a smile a mile wide, and his face would light up when he was happy about cattle prices.  His face would also be grim if he was sharing a serious concern he had about the future of farming and preserving the land.

I served with Ed for more than a decade on the Berks Agricultural Land Preservation Board and valued his dedication to the program.  His regular attendance at our monthly meetings, even when he was not feeling well, was a true indication of his deep caring and understanding about the impact this program will have on the future of agriculture in our county.  The work that was started in 1988 to keep farms in production perpetually will outlive all of us who have contributed countless hours to the cause.  Next month we will be celebrating 50,000 acres of farmland that will remain in agriculture forever.

Ed Hartman knew he wanted to be a farmer from the time he was a child.  His sons shared with me the statement that Ed wrote in his high school year book as we reminisced about his life.  As a teenager, Ed left no question about his future career in farming, and enthusiastically told how he wanted to apply modern farming practices to his chosen field.  Throughout his life, Ed’s passion for agriculture built a network of scattered farms in eight townships.  He lived his dream and teamed up with wife Josie to raise a family of five sons, along with beef, dairy, grain and swine.

As a fellow beef farmer, I enjoyed sharing Ed’s special passion for raising steers.  We would catch up on market prices, futures and supplies of cattle every month before our chairman called the Ag Land Preservation Board meetings to order.  Sometimes Ed would keep right on talking since his hearing was not as good as it once had been and the entire board would wait for us to finish our animated beef about beef prices!   One of my favorite pictures of Ed that the family shared at his funeral showed Ed, along with his brother and partner John, standing in their feedlot with beef cattle all around them.  That snapshot will remain in my memory forever.

Ed served the farm community in many ways.  He was a member of the Berks County Farm Bureau board from 1982 until 2006.  During that time, he served as president from 1987 until 1998.  He was a member of the Berks County Agricultural Land Preservation Board from 1995 until his death.

Ed’s devotion to farmland preservation was evident even in his final request that when he departed his children would ask friends and family to send contributions in lieu of flowers to Adopt An Acre Inc.  As one of the founding members of that non-profit organization for farmland preservation, I was deeply honored by Ed’s gift and this final gesture of devotion to the land he loved to farm.

Ed’s lifelong passion for farming has been passed on to his sons and his grandchildren.  His mentorship has laid the foundation for their future in agriculture and related fields.  I’m sure they also have inherited Ed’s love of life, livestock and the land.  God bless you, Ed, for everything you have accomplished for agriculture, even after death.

Adopt An Acre Inc. supports land preservation for future generations through conservation easement and education programs.  Contributions in memory of Ed Hartman can be sent to P.O. Box 251, Wernersville, PA 19565.

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