Jennifer Foster loves to get her hands dirty."It feels good. It feels right," she said. "There's something very soothing about running your fingers through the soil ... . In a sense, it's a lot like art."But Foster is not an artist.She's a rest......

An inevitable occurrence on the roads in Lancaster County each summer is an increase in the number of slow-moving farm vehicles that can bog down traffic — and cause impatient motorists to attempt reckless maneuvers while trying to pass them.Pennsylvania, with its side-by-side blend ......

The Brubaker family never thought they would be in the energy business, but today their dairy farm is creating enough electricity to light a small town.Hundreds of people, ranging from politicians to local farmers, were at Brubaker Farms in Mount Joy Wednesday afternoon to help unveil a ne......

A two-alarm blaze Thursday night tore through three structures on a Clay Township farm.Fire officials said the blaze at 165 N. Clay Road is believed to be arson. At press time, fire marshals and ATF agents were still on the scene.About 100 firefighters from 25 departments fought the......

Long gone are the days of the family farm consisting of a plot of vegetables, acreage of corn for silage and a handful of chickens, cows and horses.Today, farming involves a complex mix of technology, labor and the management sense of someone running an industrial company, a state official......

Salisbury Township supervisors Tuesday passed a zoning ordinance amendment that would eliminate churches as a use in the township's ag district.•••A seemingly controversial ordinance amendment banning new churches in much of Salisbu......

At least two municipal groups from Lancaster County are among the dozens that have sued the state government over the cost to upgrade wastewater plants as part of a strategy to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.The lawsuit, filed in Commonwealth Court Friday by Capital Region Council of Governme......

Sonya Rinker was looking for a guy: someone who was kind, respectful and had a special place in his heart — for tractors. She wanted a man who could share the thrill of a good tractor-pull show, who could see beauty in a shiny row of green and yellow of John Deere tractors. She didn&......

On a tour of the rustic Reinholds farmhouse, Kurt Fichthorn's blurred childhood memories came racing back. Kurt remembered wrestling with his cousins in the hayloft and watching horse-drawn carts race around a dusty track. But he also saw the future. Kurt's great uncle, Dan Fi......

Ben Weiss is a young man who will be growing corn, beans and squash on 5 acres this summer, and he could use your help.But a note of caution: Be open to trying something different.Don't bring a tractor or rototiller, for example, because Weiss doesn't want to break and turn the soil......

Strasburg Township residents Monday night demanded to know why their elected officials did not tell them in advance about its plans to buy a 129-acre farm along Beaver Valley Pike (Route 222) to be used for parkland.The township offered $2.15 million for the High Farm, and officials said t......

With an economic crunch being felt across the spectrum of government programs in Pennsylvania, agricultural preservation is not immune from the dangers of dwindling resources.The Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Board on Thursday approved $33 million for farm easements across the state i......

Teri Coon may spend from dawn to dusk tending to cows in the field — doing everything from vaccinations to castrations, from health exams to stomach surgery. She loves her job as a farm-animal veterinarian.It's hard physical labor, she explained, "but it's more flexible ......

Farmer Jake Stoltzfus has been told he might want to keep an eye on his baby Boer goats. In an unusual but not unprecedented occurrence, a pair of bald eagles has erected a huge stick nest in farmland along Mill Creek, between Intercourse and New Holland. Lancaster County has become a hotb......

Sen. Arlen Specter is known as a liberal Republican from Philadelphia. But he said his roots are in farming; as a teen, he drove a tractor on a Kansas farm.Specter held a town-hall meeting at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Tuesday afternoon, touting the 2007 Farm Bill, which could land on Pres......

With the Pennsylvania Farm Show set to begin this morning, agriculture is on the minds of many people across the commonwealth.And it was on the mind of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Friday afternoon at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, as he touted a new farm bill set to be voted on in Congress....

This weekend will be bittersweet for Johanna Rohrer as she takes her farm animals to Harrisburg for one last time.The 19-year-old native of Manheim is participating in her final junior livestock showing competition during the 2008 Pennsylvania Farm Show, kicking off Saturday at the Harrisb......

With the recent preservation of three farms in West Lampeter Township totaling 150 acres, Lancaster Farmland Trust has wrapped up the most successful of its 19 years. The trust closes out 2007 with 35 farms and 2,252 acres preserved, exceeding its 2007 goal by 252 acres. "This year th......

Lancaster Farmland Trust announced Thursday that 2007 has been its most successful year to date, thanks to the recent preservation of three farms in West Lampeter Township.In total, the trust managed to preserve 35 farms and 2,252 acres in 2007 — exceeding its goal by 252 acres....

Agricultural preservation issues are cropping up again in Salisbury Township.In June, a proposal to amend Salisbury's zoning ordinance drew a standing-room-only crowd, including many Plain-sect farmers. Supervisor Lester Houck told the audience then that Agricultural Preserve Board off......

In East Hempfield Township this week, the pessimists got their say.Resident after resident after resident stood before the township supervisors Monday and said they don't believe it's possible to build a future in which opportunities for growth in Lancaster County are balanced with preserv......

State police charged a Lancaster County volunteer firefighter Wednesday with torching three barns and setting fire to a patch of brush over the past two months.Police said Travis Pierce, 19, of North East, Md., who volunteered with Robert Fulton Fire Company, set the blazes and then helped......

The Star Barn will be moving, but it won't be going very far.Robert S. Barr, who purchased the iconic landmark along Route 283 in Dauphin County on behalf of the nonprofit organization Agrarian Country, announced plans Wednesday to relocate the structure and use it as an agricultural e......

After approving the third tax hike in four years, the county commissioners voted to set aside $9.3 million for farmland preservation.•••Lancaster County commissioners Wednesday approved a 7.1 percent tax hike for 2008.That means ......

That agricultural icon known as the Star Barn won't be sitting along Route 283 much longer.The four-building complex was sold to nonprofit farm-preservation organization Agrarian Country for an undisclosed amount and is tentatively scheduled to be dismantled in spring and moved to an u......

Just as they have for the past 25 years, people are flocking to Elizabeth Farms to cut their own Christmas trees. On Wednesday, the Lancaster County commissioners made sure a large part of this popular Elizabeth Township destination — which is one of the largest Christmas-tree farms in th......

Tens of thousands of chicks died Tuesday night in a two-alarm blaze that seriously damaged a large West Earl Township chicken house, officials said.The fire destroyed about half of the large wooden structure on Gary Burkholder's farm at 210 Cocalico Creek Road, investigators said....

About four years ago, state Rep. Art Hershey lost a part of his home.Not his farm in Chester County, but through the process of redrawing legislative district borders, Hershey lost a section of rural eastern Lancaster County, where he grew up.Before 2003, Hershey's 13th District had......

A small blaze sparked by a propane heater chased hundreds of ducks from a shed in West Cocalico Township this morning. About half didn't make it out in time, said Chief Tim Hackman of the Schoeneck Fire Company. The small structure — a converted utility shed at 620 Schoeneck Road &md......

Martic Township supervisors are spending $15,000 to study a reoccurring storm-water management problem that area residents say has caused flooding on their properties.The study will be performed by township engineer Wilson Consulting Group PC.Residents of the affected areas on Bridg......

Getting people to scream has become a big business.The Haunted House Association estimates that Halloween attractions in the United States annually generate between $300 million and $500 million in ticket sales.Those who look forward to October for all its spooky amusements say they......

The owners of a Maryland horse farm, known as premier breeders of stallions, are expanding their operation into Lancaster County.Tom Bowman and Richard Golden announced Wednesday the purchase of a 171-acre farm in Peach Bottom, where they will locate a second division of Northview Stallion......

Most dairy farmers sell their milk for about $1.50 a gallon. Rob Wentworth, however, is getting $5 a gallon on his Quarryville farm. He's one of about 40 farmers in Lancaster County trying to fill consumers' growing demand for raw milk. Some health professionals say the milk — w......

Lititz farmer Dennis Hess abruptly ended a phone conversation about thieves who have targeted his roadside produce stand.The reason for the curtailed call? A thief who had hit his self-serve produce stand that morning had returned only a few hours later."They're bold, let m......

In July 1991, the Sauder dairy operation became the first preserved farm in West Hempfield Township.Now, the Sauder family is working equally hard to preserve their house.Paul Sauder works a 99-acre dairy farm just outside of Silver Spring. He's selling 15 acres destined to beco......

A 2-year-old child died in a farm accident late Tuesday in Martic Township, state police said in a press release.Trooper Kevin S. Edmunds said the male victim "was playing at the rear of a parked farm tractor, while his two siblings were playing on the tractor."The two boys playing ......

In the same way some men speak of their wife or girlfriend, their car or their football team, you could hear the love in the man's voice as he spoke about the big celebration held each fall in his town. "Us folks up here in Manheim sure love our farm show," the man......

Carolyn Leaman still remembers growing up on her family's farm, where they raised cows, chickens and steers.The Strasburg resident said she wants to pass along what it's like to be around agriculture, so Thursday afternoon she took her granddaughters, 5-year-old Jasmin and 4-year-o......

Fulton Township supervisors recently denied a couple's request for a waiver to place a second home on their farm.Instead, the board told Benjamin and Kathy Esh to proceed with subdivision plans for the 99.5-acre farm at Rigby and Cherry Hill roads.The Eshes would be allowed to a......

Donald Risser of Bainbridge borrowed millions to expand his 120-cow dairy so he could milk 750. Carlton Groff of Kirkwood sold three-quarters of his produce farm and switched to garden plants. Amish farmer Aaron M. King of Paradise started a grass-seed business that sells to customers from......

The price of farmland in Lancaster County, after skyrocketing for years, seems to be leveling off. Far fewer farms have been sold lately, too. "It's good news for Lancaster County that our heritage is not disappearing as quickly as we thought," said Concord House Real Estate&......

Lawmakers once again are hotly debating the national farm bill, set to expire this month. No matter what emerges when the dust clears, local farmers likely will continue to get only a small fraction of the farm-bill funds. About two-thirds of the money in the bill typically goes toward ......

Computers automatically read cow-collar transponders to track health, milk production and breeding. Holstein cows — 750 of them — relax at their favorite spots on the "beach," or munch on special feed. There's plenty for everyone: 14 silos hold shelled corn, soybe......

Despite preservation efforts and attempts to steer development away from farmland, Lancaster County continues to lose farms. In 1997, according to state statistics, the county had 5,695 farms, totaling 428,439 acres. Last year, it had 5,305 farms, with 407,000 acres. That's a loss of 4......

"One little tractor with work to do helps the animals all day through. Two little horses stop their play until little tractor brings them hay. "Three little cows... "…Four little pigs…" Idyllic descriptions of farm life like this one in Brimax's &......

A 60-foot-tall wooden silo toppled onto a milking parlor at an East Lampeter Township dairy farm Wednesday night, spilling tons of hay and causing thousands of dollars in damage, investigators said.The 25-foot-wide silo had been filled with hay just this week and fell over about 7 p.m. at ......

Tom Denlinger always wanted to do one thing: farm. He wasn't raised on a farm, but in his high school days he worked as a hired hand in the early 1970s. He earned the FFA's highest honor, the prestigious American Farmers Degree. In 1979, Denlinger bought cows and rented a 70-acre d......

Carlton Groff grew up selling peaches and apples from a 19th-century springhouse on a Kirkwood farm. The 63-year-old and his wife, Carol, still make a living from fertile land. But like many in Lancaster County and across the country the last few decades, they've had to make some darin......

Francine Campagnini of Aston now buys her produce, eggs and lunch meat directly from farmers. There are two farmers markets within five miles of her suburban-Philadelphia home. Many of the standholders are from Lancaster County. Before she retired, Campagnini bought her groceries at a stor......

"The great county of Lancaster, in all its glory, . . . is without a doubt, the garden of this glorious Union. "The whole of the country is in the highest state of cultivation; ... there is probably not a more prolific region in the United States."

— Eli......

Aaron M. King is busy. The Amish farmer/business owner is meeting with a customer. King sells truckloads of forage seed, including organic varieties, to farmers from New England to Virginia. King's AgriSeeds, started in a corner of his barn in 1993, now fills a new warehouse on hi......

How many Amish farms are in Lancaster County? Depends whom you ask. Kathy Heil of the local U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency office estimates that half the county's 5,000 farms are Amish. One Amish spokesman estimated that there are 12 to 15 farmers per church di......

Strasburg Township supervisors Sept. 4 approved a conditional use for the subdivision of three lots off a 96.9-acre farm.In the process of settling an estate, the John Fisher family requested the conditional use for three 2-acre lots on which to build homes. The parent tract has an address......

Fields of healthy yellow tobacco brighten the horizon. That's if you can see it beyond the cornfields, with plants soaring to 11 feet in height. Wagons full of vegetables line up at produce auctions and farmers are working overtime to fill silos. "They don't call us the G......

(Editor's note: This is the last in a series of stories by New Era Correspondent Wendy S. Caldwell. She recently completed a co-op in applied anthropology at Millersville University aimed at understanding sustainable agriculture in Lancaster County.Lancaster County has long be......

Members of Lititz Borough Council are confident the town's water supply is safe to drink.And at Tuesday night's meeting, council members stood behind the work of the borough's water-treatment-plant employees.Officials responded to questions raised by residents at council meetings in......

The county commissioners are considering enacting a state tax benefit for preserved farms, one that would permanently freeze the rate at which those properties are taxed. They would need the consent of municipalities and school districts in order to institute the program. But first, the......

Members of Lititz Borough Council announced at Tuesday night's meeting they were ending an investigation into the construction of a hog-farm operation west of town in Penn Township and into allegations a borough employee made false statements about it.Council looked at several issues s......

A Penn State University expert gave a presentation on the science of insects Monday in West Lampeter Township, but that doesn't mean officials are any closer to discovering why a local housing development is experiencing what one resident called "an infestation nightmare."Abo......

The Mount Joy Township blaze, which killed cattle, was one of three fires in Lancaster County Monday. The others were at a row home in Columbia and at a cabin in Conestoga Township.•••Hay spontaneously combusted inside a Mount Joy Towns......

(Editor's note: New Era Correspondent Wendy S. Caldwell is completing a co-op in applied anthropology at Millersville University. The program is aimed at understanding sustainable agriculture in Lancaster County. She is contributing stories related to the project throughout the summer.)......

It's a "disgrace," state Rep. Tom Creighton said of funding cuts for agriculture in the new state budget.Agriculture is the "No. 1 industry" in Pennsylvania, chimed in Rep. Bryan Cutler, "and we are neglecting it.""A cut this size," warned Rep. Gordon Denlinger, "is going to be a wa......

The state House and Senate Monday approved a $27.2 billion state budget, more than two weeks after a deadline imposed by the state constitution.The budget — which would run until June 30, 2008, and raise spending by about 3.2 percent over the 2006-07 spending plan — now goes to......

Fifteen to 17 Lancaster County farmers are being ousted from one of the federal government's largest cost-sharing programs designed to improve water quality. In recent weeks, termination letters were sent by certified mail to the farmers from the Pennsylvania office of the National Resou......

The Lancaster County Commissioners Wednesday approved preservation easements on four county farms totaling 265 acres. The farms are: The Harnish Brothers' 61-acre crop farm in Manor Township. The easement was purchased for $214,445 in state funds. The 52-acre dairy farm of Jame......

Lancaster County commissioners Wednesday approved the hiring of a new deputy administrator for human services.Frank W. Koerber, 45, of East Hempfield Township, will start work July 23 at an annual salary of $86,000.He fills a position that has been occupied by James Laughman on an i......

Early in June, Deirdre Foley Citro came across a Web site that espoused a 100-Mile Diet.It seemed to make sense to the Manheim woman: Eat food grown only within a 100-mile radius of where you live.Knowing what's being eaten and where it comes from gives consumers better control ......

(Editor's note: New Era Correspondent Wendy S. Caldwell is completing a co-op in applied anthropology at Millersville University. The program is aimed at understanding sustainable agriculture in Lancaster County. She is contributing stories related to the project throughout the summer.)......

Getting lost in a cornfield is always a possibility in Lancaster County. But is it something people do deliberately?Each year anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 people do just that at Cherry-Crest Farm's "Amazing Maize Maze," according to Cathy Kornfield (no joke!), the farm'......

A young Christiana-area man who was working as a farmhand was one of the five people killed by methane gas in a manure pit in Virginia on Monday evening. Amos J. Stoltzfus, 24, of 89 Windy Top Road, Christiana, died when he leaped into the pit near Bridgewater, Va., in an attempt to save his bo......

Arlan Kurtz is wondering how he will feed his 100 head of cattle this winter after his barn, full of hay bales, was destroyed by a fire started by spontaneous combustion Saturday afternoon. While firefighters from eight companies scrambled to douse the hay and spread the bales open, Kurtz said,......

Gov. Edward G. Rendell Tuesday announced that Pennsylvania is supporting two of its biggest industries, tourism and agriculture, as well as early stage companies, by investing nearly $5 million in projects located in 10 counties. Three projects are in Lancaster County.The governor said the......

Pennsylvania State Police Monday were trying to determine how a Lancaster County dairy farmer's milk became tainted twice in two weeks.According to state police at the Ephrata barracks, an antibiotic was put in a dairy tank on Eli Glick's farm at 6145 Wanner Road, Salisbury Township....

(Editor's note: New Era Correspondent Wendy S. Caldwell is completing a co-op in applied anthropology at Millersville University. The program is aimed at understanding sustainable agriculture in Lancaster County. She is contributing stories related to the project throughout the summe......

BY DRIVING TO Kissel Hill Road in Lancaster, you can step back in time to 19th-century Lancaster County. At Landis Valley Museum, history comes alive, with demonstrations, tours and hands-on activities that highlight life for the Pennsylvania Dutch in the late 1800s. The museum began as......

Bertie Beiler and her family intently listened as Linda Spahr, a livestock expert, explained how to stay safe around farm animals. Beiler's two children and nephew watched as the gregarious Spahr showed positions where cows can't see people. Their attention was with good reason. Se......

One day, Dieter Krieg and his grandfather were unloading a pickup truck on Krieg's farm. The pickup truck, parked on the slightest of slopes, started sliding. It could have killed his grandfather had it not been stopped by a building overhang."There wasn't much of a slope. But, by George, ......

Dennis Wolff knows the challenge of running a dairy farm and being a good neighbor in an agricultural community.The Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture raises Holsteins in Columbia County and said he has always admired the balance between blooming agriculture and booming population in La......

(Editor's note: New Era Correspondent Wendy S. Caldwell is completing a co-op in applied anthropology at Millersville University. The program is aimed at understanding sustainable agriculture in Lancaster County. She is contributing stories related to the project throughout the s......

The first Lancaster County farmer to fight a local government ordinance through a new state agriculture and environment initiative is not happy with the outcome. Stevens chicken farmer Carl Musser is learning what a growing list of farmers in Pennsylvania are realizing — help dealing with......

Real estate developer Bill Roberts' professional life can be seen in the revitalization of older buildings and the construction of new buildings in Lancaster City and elsewhere. Soon, he plans to bring part of his private life here, too. Roberts, whose Harrisburg-based IBS Development has ......

Landis Homes will celebrate its heritage and that of the surrounding community when it hosts Spring Farm Day on Saturday. Events will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the campus of the retirement community, 1001 E. Oregon Road, Lititz. "It's like a mini-farm show," commun......

A Mount Joy egg farmer said Monday he was pleased to be exonerated of animal cruelty charges.Now, he's concentrating on restoring public trust in his family business."We had always been and continue to be committed to animal welfare, food safety and environmental stewardship," H. Gl......

Ruth Darlington Essick Miller has some advice for today's youths:"Stay away from drugs, work hard, become Christians and follow the Lord."Miller followed that same advice herself, and is now celebrating her 100th birthday today."I always depended upon the L......

The corn that will be the Amazing Maize Maze is only beginning to break ground at Cherry-Crest Farms in Strasburg. Nevertheless, the award-winning agritainment facility will open its gates to the public on Saturday. Obviously, the five-acre maze won't be ready. (It opens July 7.) ......

Republicans Dennis Stuckey and Scott Martin, standing on a house porch looking out on bright green farmland in western Lancaster County Sunday, addressed what has become a perennial issue for county government: How should the county commissioners pay to preserve farmland?"It would beh......

In Penn Township, three is a magic number.Two farms in the township were permanently preserved from development Friday, thanks to a partnership of three entities — Lancaster Farmland Trust, Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board and Penn Township.Each member of the partn......

Barry Kornhauser grew up in urban New Jersey, never realizing the importance of agricultural issues.But within the last two years, the resident playwright of Fulton Opera House has become passionate about the subject of farm safety.Kornhauser's innovative play about the conseque......

fA Clay Township farm considered a prime location for development sold for more than $8.7 million Friday, breaking the $100,000-per-acre barrier.The price may be a Lancaster County record for a large parcel of farmland, a real estate official said.Lincoln Developers of Ephrata purch......

Two weeks of cold weather followed by a drenching nor'easter reminded people of winter despite the march of days past mid-April.The grim weather has taken a toll on farmers' abilities to get crops in the ground and ready for market by early summer.Tim Elkner, a horticulturis......

An 85-acre Clay Township farm selling at public auction Friday could bring the highest price in recent history. Auctioneer Aaron E. Martin said the Hackman family's residential-zoned property at 140 Hackman Road is a developer's dream. "You can never tell for sure, but I think it's going t......

A slate of proposed changes to Pennsylvania's dog kennel laws is going back to the drawing board.The Independent Regulatory Review Commission released comments and recommendations Monday after examining the proposed changes and more than 16,000 public comments submitted to the state De......

Another manure-to-energy project is in the works for Lancaster County. The Narvon dairy farm of Alfred Wanner and the nonprofit Sustainable Energy Fund of Central Eastern Pennsylvania are teaming to build an anaerobic digester that will convert manure from the farm's 600 cows into electricity....

You have to give Gordon Hillegas a minute to think as spring arrives today. "We have, let's see, two, four, five, eight altogether," he says. Hillegas is counting little woolly heads, the new lambs that have arrived in the past eight weeks at his Pequea Township farm. Triplets were bo......

Eric Schlosser's opener was unique."I apologize in advance for the depressing and really disgusting things I'm going to say in here," was how the best-selling author began his indictment of Americans' love affair with quick, cheap, uniform finger-food wrapped in paper......

There may be no "I" in team, but there's one on Jere Swarr's voter registration card.Swarr, a Rapho Township supervisor running for Lancaster County commissioner, said he visited the county Board of Elections Wednesday to change his party affiliation from Republican to in......

Not so long ago, farmers Bill and Nanette Furina considered shutting down their Egg Basket farm in Mount Joy."We said, 'If we're going to stay here, we're going to have to find some way to generate our own electricity,'" Mr. Furina said.Thursday, the Furina......

Testimony concluded Friday in an animal-cruelty trial centering on one of the state's largest egg-production operations.Esbenshade Farms owner and chief executive H. Glenn Esbenshade and farm manager Jay Musser face 35 counts of animal cruelty for alleged inhumane conditions at the Mou......

Exhibit one for the changing role of manure from liability to asset: A Maryland energy company has announced an $8-million plan to build three manure-to-electricity plants on Lancaster County farms. If successful, EnergyWorks Lancaster envisions building the mini-plants on farms throughout the ......

The owner of one of the state's largest egg farms was back in court Thursday facing animal-cruelty charges in a case that left off nearly six months ago.Charged with 35 counts each of animal cruelty are Esbenshade Farms' chief executive H. Glenn Esbenshade and farm manager Jay Musser....

A Maryland energy company has announced an ambitious plan to build multiple Lancaster County manure-to-energy plants within one year.EnergyWorks, of Annapolis, Md., said Wednesday it will invest about $8 million to construct and operate three plants that will produce a bio-gas that can be ......

Three Old Order Amish farmers in Paradise Township were hesitant. Last year, each individually expressed interest in selling their farms' permanent land development rights to the Lancaster Farmland Trust. But none liked the idea of being the first or only one among their immediate neighbor......

The Scribbler grew up on a farm full of Pekin ducks along muddy Mill Creek. In the summertime, with more than 100,000 ducks quacking in outside pens, every passing Long Island tourist could see, hear and smell precisely what a fowl farm was all about. Dairy, corn and tobacco farms surround......

What makes successful family theater? Barry Kornhauser, award-winning playwright-in-residence at the Fulton Opera House and Charlie DelMarcelle, actor, director and past associate director of the Fulton Family Theater Ensemble, might be two good fellas to ask. It starts, they say, with ......

A growing number of Lancaster County residents are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.Nearly 33 percent of county youths in 2005 said they felt "depressed or sad most days during the past year."The number of women who hold elected or appointed positions in coun......

The farms are considered part of the preservation list for 2006, raising the total number saved last year to 71. The farms are: Abner and Lizzie King’s 51-acre dairy farm in Penn Township. Leroy and Susie King’s adjacent 53-acre dairy farm in Penn Township. Harvey and Mary Ann Fox’s 10-a......

That will increase the number of farms preserved through the county's Agricultural Preserve Board to 663, including 63 so far this year.

Matt Knepper, director of the preserve board, told the commissioners Tuesday that he expects to exceed a goal of 70 farms for the year.

Counting ...

The county commissioners today are expected to approve for preservation of the 53rd farm this year.

“With the number of farms we have in the pipeline, I think we’ll make it to 70,” he said.

If so, that would be the most farms preserved by the county in a single year under the current p...

A Philadelphia-based animal rights group has taken credit for forcing Kreider Farms to change its description of its chickens from "happy and well-treated" to "contented and well-treated."

Hugs for Puppies, which has previously tangled with Kreider Farms over its treat...

The county’s Agricultural Preserve Board will allocate nearly $1 million in county and state money to purchase the easements. Commissioner Pete Shaub questioned the price offered for an easement on one farm at Tuesday’s work session of commissioners. The commissioners instructed the preserve b......

The egg producer changed the description from “happy and well-treated” to “contented and well-treated,” said Kreider Farms operations manager Tom Beachler. The switch came after Hugs for Puppies, a Philadelphia-based animal rights group, filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB ......

Neither side is saying why, but attorneys facing off in an animal-cruelty case against one of the state's largest egg farms pulled the battle behind closed doors in hopes of negotiating a settlement.


That was Monday, after five hours of testimony from witnesses for the prosecuti...

Police are investigating both accidents to determine if negligence on the part of others contributed to the deaths.

The victims were a 3-year-old boy in Fulton Township and a 9-year-old boy in Conoy Township.

Three-year-old Elmer King Fisher was killed shortly before 11:45 a.m. Tue...

Animal-rights advocates charged with felonies for allegedly trespassing at Kreider Farms to document inhumane conditions had an easy day in court Thursday.


District Judge William G. Reuter of Mount Joy presided over the hearing in which felony charges against Lisa Levinson, 38, of P...

A district judge in Elizabethtown ruled Tuesday that videotaped evidence of alleged animal cruelty at a county farm can be part of an upcoming trial.


Defense attorneys for Esbenshade Farms chief executive H. Glenn Esbenshade and farm manager Jay Musser tried to persuade District Jus...

Reinard's banter typified how regular customers deflected their sadness during the restaurant's last day: Kreider's officially closed at 3 p.m. Monday.

"I don't really want the chair," Reinard said. "But I would like the restaurant to stay open."

The 18-year-old restaurant, located...

By Tuesday afternoon, the electricity was back on and the corn stalks were starting to straighten up.

"It's just a temporary setback," Groff said, but the 2-foot stalks - pelted by hail and wind - will never fully recover.

"You'll be able to say, 'That field, a storm went through.....

He sold his first farm - the family farm - to an agricultural business 40 years ago.

"It's too much of a temptation for young men with a debt and everything," Ludwig said. "It's almost an impossibility to say no."

Ludwig was among a handful of farmers who attended a press confere.....

Matt and Charlene Espenshade sat at their kitchen table Friday afternoon, talking about the life they have chosen, with farming at its core.


"This is a wonderful life, but it's a life that you have to really have a passion for, like any job," Charlene said.

...

Despite the small number of farms preserved in Lancaster County this year, the farmland preservation movement is alive and well, according to Commissioner Dick Shellenberger.

Shellenberger, who is expected to be elected chairman of the board of commissioners, acknowledged Tuesday ......

But despite some of the highest milk prices ever right now, a farm economist says the king is hurting. At the current rate, Pennsylvania soon will drop behind Idaho to fifth in the nation in milk production, and sixth place is not far away. “The vast number (of our dairy farms) are too small t......