2012-05-08 21:52:00
P.J. REILLY
The Next Generation Farmer Loan Program run in Lancaster and Chester counties over the past 12 years will hit a milestone Wednesday.
One of four loans the Lancaster County commissioners are expected to consider for approval at their meeting Wednesday will be the 100th awarded to a f......
2012-05-02 23:39:00
DAN NEPHIN
Vandals have slashed tires on nearly 50 vehicles in two sections of Lancaster city lately, and police say the crimes could be related.
Besides the slashings in the area of Lemon to Frederick streets and from Lancaster Avenue to Mulberry Street, tires have been punctured on vehicles in the......
2012-05-01 20:46:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Vandals slashed tires on cars in Lancaster city Sunday night, making it the second weekend in a row vehicles have been damaged.
City police Lt. Todd Umstead said vandals struck at least nine cars in the 100 block of North Mulberry Street overnight Sunday.
Each car had one tire sla......
2012-04-27 23:14:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster city district judge was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges that she dismissed her own parking tickets.
Kelly S. Ballentine, 44, jotted notes and frequently whispered to her attorney during a two-hour preliminary hearing on a dozen criminal counts.
Ultimately, ret......
2012-04-24 19:14:10
Denver Broncos
2011_Von Miller, LB, Texas A&M
2010_Demaryius Thomas, WR, Georgia Tech
2009_Knowshon MOreno, RB, Georgia
2008_Ryan Clady, T, Boise St.
2007_Jarvis Moss, DE, Flo......
2012-04-23 15:06:54
Denver Broncos
2011_Von Miller, LB, Texas A&M
2010_Demaryius Thomas, WR, Georgia Tech
2009_Knowshon MOreno, RB, Georgia
2008_Ryan Clady, T, Boise St.
2007_Jarvis Moss, DE, Flo......
2012-03-22 22:52:00
JANE HOLAHAN
THEATER REVIEW
Take yourself back to a time before computers, cell phones and the Internet, before women had any rights in the workplace, when some men felt like they could do whatever they wanted around those women.
That's the......
2012-03-15 16:19:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Violet, Doralee and Judy all have mighty complaints against their boss, Franklin Hart, who makes working in their office a miserable experience.
Violet keeps getting passed over for the promotions she richly deserves. And Hart steals all her ideas to improve office efficiency and makes th......
2011-12-17 23:14:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The nadir came earlier this year, when several of the high-tech surveillance cameras deployed around the City of Lancaster were in need of repair — and the Lancaster Community Safety Coalition didn't have the money to get them fixed.
And so for weeks, said CSC managing director Wes ......
2011-11-16 22:15:00
STAFF REPORT
Farmers in Lancaster County now qualify for natural disaster low-interest emergency loans because of damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Lebanon, Bradford and York counties as natural disaster areas because of excessive rai......
2011-10-26 21:52:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The poop-to-power movement continues in Lancaster County.
Two local farms have received a total of $800,000 in federal grants to set up manure digesters, which take methane gas from animal waste and convert it into electricity.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is funding the dig......
2011-08-30 21:09:00
AD CRABLE
Hurricane Irene's wind and rain are gone, but local farmers are getting headaches as they deal with tangled, tilted, uprooted and snapped corn.
Some farmers, who survived muddy conditions for spring planting and a late-summer dry spell, now face a problem of getting less-than-vertical cor......
2011-07-27 22:56:00
JENNIFER TODD
Three men are in jail as the result of what police called a road-rage incident Monday night in West Hempfield Township.
Investigators said the men got into an altercation with another motorist and then fled from officers who were trying to stop their vehicle, which police said they later ......
2011-06-01 17:42:13
Andy Fasnacht
And as of next Monday evening, when the 88th edition of Pennsylvania’s largest street fair rolls into town, that tradition will go the way of five-cent balloons as the Ephrata Farmers Day Association (EFDA) convinced Ephrata Borough to move the long-standing street closing time from 9 to 7:30 p.m....
2011-04-07 14:24:00
CINDY STAUFFER
He said he was out of a job, collecting more than $13,000 in unemployment benefits.
But Patrick Higgins was working as a manager of a fast-food restaurant, according to law enforcement officials.
Higgins, 54, of Mallard Drive, is facing charges of insurance fraud, according to a n......
2011-02-16 17:20:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Four-year-old Brayden Heisey pinches the penny between his fingers, and then pitches it into the wavy water of the fountain, mesmerized as the copper coin is swallowed up and sinks slowly to the bottom.
The floor of the penny fountain "wishing well," one of two in the lobby of the Lancast......
2011-02-02 23:03:00
AD CRABLE
Will it be illegal for a cow to stand in a stream in Lancaster County?
Or for a local farmer to spread manure in winter?
That's what local ag consultant Peter Hughes foresees as the federal government cracks down on sources of nutrients flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.
In ......
2011-01-07 21:50:00
AD CRABLE
One summer day in 2004, a 13-year-old boy was riding on a tractor near the Lancaster County-Chester County line.
The tractor hit an embankment and rolled over, crushing the youth, the son of a farmer.
Like most of its era, the 49-year-old farm tractor did not have a roll bar. If i......
2010-11-22 17:57:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
THEATER REVIEW
Everyone dreams of a "White Christmas," and until Dec. 31 it can be found at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre.
This stage treatment of the classic 1954 movie written around a popular song is a colorful, lively and ......
2010-11-01 20:26:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
In the words of one official, they're "another tool to help farmers stay in East Hempfield," Lancaster's second-biggest suburban township.
Township officials have started working on that new tool, transferable development rights, otherwise known as TDRs.
A third of East Hempfield'......
2010-10-07 18:42:00
STAFF REPORT
State legislators have given farmers driving heavy farm equipment exemptions from tough new federal regulations. The legislation, sought by Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, has been approved as part of a transportation bill passed by the General Assembly and sent to Gov. Ed Rendell. The change......
2010-09-21 18:24:00
DAINA SAVAGE
A few days before his produce is showcased in Sotheby's Manhattan showroom, Silver Spring farmer Tom Culton is surprisingly relaxed. After a barefoot stroll around his 53-acre farm, sampling raw fennel and garlic, pulling monster beets from the soil and visiting his spitting goats and rafter-dwel......
2010-09-05 00:08:00
ERIC G. STARK and JON RUTTER
Paradise Township farmer Don Ranck believes the 2010 corn crop is a miracle. May and most of June were so dry that the corn started to wither. Then the county got several drenching rains in the nick of time. For Pennsylvania and other nearby states, he said, it was "a multibillion-dolla......
2010-08-14 00:28:00
JANE HOLAHAN
THEATER REVIEWThe dancing in "George M!" is fantastic, especially the numerous tap numbers.The singing is solid, the band sounds great. The costumes dazzle, the set is beautiful and effectively moves the story along.The ......
2010-07-09 21:28:00
AD CRABLE
The state Senate has passed legislation intended to ease unpopular new federally mandated restrictions on farmers who operate farm machinery and vehicles on public roads.Under legislation sponsored by state Sen. Mike Brubaker of Lititz and Sen. John Rafferty of Montgomery County, the Senat......
2010-06-16 23:08:00
AD CRABLE
"We need to get the farmers aware," Levi J. Fisher said of efforts to make his fellow Amish farmers in Bart Township more environmentally conscious. "There's too many of them wanting to shove everything aside."Fisher, an organic milk producer, has already shelled ou......
2010-04-11 00:18:00
JACK BRUBAKER
This article is a follow-up to the recent "Inside Story" series on farmland preservation.
Five years ago the county's Blue Ribbon Commission for Agriculture rated tax relief for farmers as one of its highest priorities. The commission's primary recommendation: freeze real es......
2010-04-11 00:17:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks — three neighbors in eastern Pennsylvania — are the only counties participating in the state's tax-freeze program for preserved farms. The three counties together have preserved 471 farms. Lancaster County has preserved nearly 1,100 farms. Lehig......
2010-03-30 22:01:00
BY AD CRABLE
West Lampeter Township is being courted by a company that wants to build a $45 to $50 million bug-based anaerobic manure digester system to pump out "green" electricity for up to 30 farms.In exchange for manure from poultry and pigs, farmers would get free power, free odorless fe......
2010-03-26 08:24:00
ROXANNE MCROBERTS
It's easy to pretend that radon doesn't exist because we can't see it, taste it or smell it. To many homeowners, it's "something that other people have to worry about," and they think, "How bad can it really be?"Well, according to the Environmental Prote......
2010-03-24 00:01:00
AD CRABLE
State lawmakers addressing hundreds of farmers Tuesday in Harrisburg vowed to introduce legislation to roll back transportation regulations that they say threaten the family farm."While farm vehicles and equipment have increased in size and significantly improved over the years, the S......
2010-03-14 00:21:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Thirty years ago this spring, Lancaster County began a program to preserve its prime farmland from development. That program has grown into the nation's model. The county has saved nearly 1,100 farms and about 85,300 acres — more than any other county in the country. But that's on......
2010-03-14 00:15:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Even as Lancaster County preserves farms, it loses other farms and farm acreage to development each year. Everyone knows that. Everyone except the federal government. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2007 Census of Agriculture, released last year, indicates that Lancaster Count......
2010-03-14 00:15:00
JACK BRUBAKER
When she preserved the first farm in Lancaster County, the late Frances Bear, a Martic Township environmentalist, said, "I wanted other people to get the idea." Since Bear donated the preservation easement on her 87-acre farm to the county commissioners in March 1980, hundreds of other Lanca......
2010-02-27 00:04:00
AD CRABLE
Facing opposition, the federal government has dropped a six-year voluntary effort to get farmers here and nationwide to tag and trace the movements of livestock.The system was launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2004 after a mad cow disease scare in Canada.The idea was......
2010-02-17 00:02:00
JEFF HAWKES
How has the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act touched our community?Lots of people have stories to tell. Here are a few:The renterEven when he was working five days a week, money was tight for Rafael Jimenez.Then, last summer, his employer, K&......
2010-02-15 21:29:00
AD CRABLE
It's hard to imagine Lancaster County farmers being able to farm if they weren't allowed to drive machinery on or across roads.But several local accidents and proposed new federal restrictions have turned the common practice into an issue.Coming to a head are two separate in......
2010-02-13 09:07:00
DIANE BITTING
For Kaitlyn S. "Katie" Farmer, her involvement in a variety of sports has been a means of exploring possible athletic interests."I just was really interested in sports I could do my whole life," the friendly Elizabethtown Area High School senior said.Farmer's......
2010-01-26 06:43:00
AD CRABLE
When the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced last fall it had targeted nearly two dozen small farms near Intercourse for farm-related water pollution inspections, fears of a crackdown rippled through farm and regulatory circles all the way to Harrisburg.The 3-square-mile Wats......
2009-12-11 07:22:00
AD CRABLE
Pennsylvania faces tougher anti-pollution regulations as part of a new federal mandate to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.But local and state officials complain that not enough credit is being given to projects that already are making a difference.On Thursday, a few of those grass-roots......
2009-11-20 05:16:00
LORI VAN INGEN
The highest honor in the Lancaster County agriculture industry was presented to Luke Brubaker at the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry's agriculture industry banquet at Shady Maple Banquet & Conference Center Thursday night.Brubaker is an owner of Brubaker Farms in East ......
2009-11-17 08:13:00
JACK BRUBAKER, The Scribbler
Lancaster County each year raises just over 100,000 acres of corn for grain, more than any other county in the state. But corn takes second place to a crop you might not expect. It's something you can't salt and butter and crunch on row by row. Unless, maybe, you're a shee......
2009-10-23 09:51:00
AD CRABLE
Almost a year ago, farmers here and nationwide were outraged over reports that the federal government was considering a "cow tax" aimed at reducing methane gas produced by their livestock.The plan to tax cows for burping or flatulence was fodder for late-night talk shows, but it ......
2009-10-07 09:02:00
TOM KNAPP
Michael Ervin wasn't all that surprised to learn Central Market was named one of the top 10 "great public spaces" by a national planning organization."It's because we're a great place in America," Ervin, market manager since 2008, said Tuesday. "Everybo......
2009-09-30 06:54:00
AD CRABLE
Large-scale livestock farming in the Octoraro watershed of Lancaster and Chester counties is producing "staggering" amounts of manure in an already overloaded area, despite efforts to limit it, according to a new study by the environmental advocacy group PennFuture.The study of t......
2009-09-26 00:02:00
AD CRABLE
Gov. Ed Rendell has appealed to the state's Milk Marketing Board for ways to aid the state's struggling dairy farmers. Rendell said milk prices have fallen 40 percent since this time a year ago, and dairy farmers need ways to survive "unprecedented financial hardships." "Pennsylvania's ......
2009-09-10 08:49:00
AD CRABLE
When volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians swarmed a Sadsbury Township farm in the sweltering heat on July 6, they rushed to the diesel shed and saw a gruesome sight.An Amish farmer's leg, badly broken, was wrapped several times around a power takeoff drive shaf......
2009-07-07 00:24:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A Lancaster County farmer trapped in a piece of farm equipment was rescued Monday evening and flown to a local hospital for treatment.Melvin Stoltzfus was badly injured when his leg became tangled in a diesel generator, officials said.The accident occurred just after 5 p.m. in a bar......
2009-06-08 10:25:00
AD CRABLE
A $1.1 million program will try to get more Amish and Mennonite farmers in Lancaster and Chester counties involved in conservation measures to reduce pollution in local streams and the Chesapeake Bay. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant to the Chesapeake Bay F......
2009-06-05 01:34:00
ROCHELLE A. SHENK
Nearly three dozen residents gathered at the Rapho Township municipal building Thursday night to hear the details of Maibach LLC's proposal to build an agri-energy center at its site near Route 230 and Eby Chiques Road.The proposed biofuels refinery, presented at a conditional-use hear......
2009-05-03 00:06:00
DENNIS LARISON, Business Editor
The world's got milk, and then some. And that oversupply has put Lancaster County dairy farmers in a real squeeze. The break-even point for Scott Kreider, who milks several hundred cows at his family's East Drumore farm, is $15.50 a hundredweight for Class III milk. In January, the......
2009-04-29 01:04:00
P.J. REILLY
Reinholds hog farmer Scott Augsberger isn't concerned about his animals coming down with the current strain of swine flu that has the World Health Organization on the verge of declaring a pandemic."I'm not really worried about my hogs getting sick because, from what I've r......
2009-04-28 22:35:00
CAROLE DECK
Unlike financial markets, farmers markets nationwide continue to see great returns.One of the newest markets in Lancaster County — New Holland Farmers Market — will open for its third season Saturday.Market manager Ginny Dissinger expects this year to be even better than......
2009-04-22 00:28:00
ROCHELLE A. SHENK
A proposed plant in Rapho Township may use a new kind of sugar beet to make an alternative fuel that could be added to gasoline.And local farmers, who will be asked to grow the special beets, could be winners if the plant is approved.Representatives for Maibach LLC presented a propo......
2009-04-22 00:01:00
MADELYN PENNINO
When Dr. Paul Farmer attended a world conference on AIDS in Africa many years ago, much of the argument was about whether it was worth it to try to save the lives of Africans infected with HIV.Disgusted, Farmer, a medical anthropologist who teaches at Harvard University, vowed to never att......
2009-03-18 09:50:00
RYAN ROBINSON
The fight against global warming could soon put dollars in farmers' pockets. Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is launching a carbon credit trading program in eight pilot counties, and hopes to expand it to Lancaster and many others within the next year. "It's an opportunity for the farmer to get s......
2009-02-26 01:08:00
MICHAEL YODER
You know you're from Lancaster County if you can tell the difference between the odors of cow, pig and chicken manure — and you have a preference between the three.Now, new regulations going into effect Friday are intended to lessen the amount of barnyard odors coming from large-......
2009-02-23 00:04:00
MICHAEL YODER
Mill Creek runs through the heart of some of the most productive farmland in Lancaster County, and in turn it's seen its share of agricultural pollution.But the many farmers who harvest their bounty along its steep banks have taken measures for several years to stop erosion and limit c......
2009-02-11 00:48:00
MICHAEL YODER
A crisis may be looming in the next decade for Lancaster County farmers.Counties throughout Pennsylvania are already reporting a shortage of veterinarians who work on large animals. Local officials in agriculture are working to make sure the same thing doesn't happen here.Scott ......
2009-01-18 00:02:00
ANDREW MARTIN, New York Times News Service
The long economic boom, fueled by easy credit that allowed people to spend money they did not have, led to a huge oversupply of cars, houses and shopping malls, as recent months have made clear. Now, add one more item to the list: an oversupply of cows. And it turns out that shutting down the m......
2009-01-17 00:01:00
The annual Pennsylvania Farm Show ends today. It's time to write an editorial, as we do every year, that marvels at the 400,000 visitors, the million-square-foot building, the imposing 900-pound butter sculpture.It's time to write an editorial that congratulates our crop of local w......
2008-12-03 00:31:00
MICHAEL YODER
For 33 years, Don Ranck only worried about two products from his cow herd: milk to sell and manure to dispose of.But the owner of Verdant View Farm in Paradise Township fears that in the near future he and other farmers may have to worry about another emission from their animals — gr......
2008-11-30 00:02:00
DENNIS LARISON, Business Editor
Christmas tree growers were bracing themselves last week for the beginning of a hectic holiday season, given that there are just four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year instead of five. "We've been cutting [pre-tagged trees] all week," said Jackie Bowser, co-own......
2008-11-26 09:23:00
RYAN ROBINSON
The Esbenshades in Paradise have been talkin' turkey — and raising and dressing and selling it — for 150 years. Bob and Gladys Esbenshade's turkey farm is purportedly the oldest in the United States. The Esbenshades, with their children Jim and Barbara, and three grandc......
2008-11-25 01:13:00
MICHAEL YODER
Thanksgiving is a few days away, but the bountiful year-round harvest of Lancaster and York counties is being promoted and celebrated in a new guide.Lancaster-York Heritage Region, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of the cultural and economic character of the two counties sep......
2008-11-22 01:00:00
MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press
A federal regulation aimed at preventing mad cow disease from getting into the food supply could create health risks of its own: many thousands of cattle carcasses rotting on farms, spreading germs, attracting vermin and polluting the water. At issue is a Food and Drug Administration rule, set ......
2008-11-06 00:48:00
MICHAEL YODER
In 1993, Ronks farmer Jack Coleman was struggling to make a decent profit with his herd of 60 dairy cows and was looking for extra income.He read a magazine article about Midwestern corn mazes and the rise of "agri-tainment" — the blending of traditional farming with entert......
2008-10-22 09:24:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Margaret Ryan grew up on a farm, where she plucked vegetables from the field and put them straight into a pot. She still does her share to support local farmers, driving three miles down the road every harvest-season Thursday to claim a cardboard box bursting with freshly picked produce....
2008-10-14 19:11:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Everything served at the recent slow food dinner held in the Philadelphia Alumni Writers House at Franklin & Marshall College was grown locally except the wine, salt, sugar, pepper and balsamic vinegar.Slow foods — food that is raised locally and allows farmers and consumers to d......
2008-10-08 01:40:00
P.J. REILLY
A historic milestone is fast approaching.When the Lancaster County commissioners meet this morning, they are expected to authorize the preservation of a 124-acre crop-and-dairy farm in Bart and Colerain townships owned by Bart Township supervisors chairman Calvin Keene and his wife, Valeri......
2008-10-07 01:52:00
BILL HANNEGAN
Large-scale Lancaster County livestock farmers have found themselves caught in a dispute between an environmental group and the state Department of Environmental Protection regarding paperwork needed for operational permits.This disagreement led PennFuture to list more than half the farms ......
2008-09-18 01:16:00
MICHAEL YODER
Lax state oversight of large-scale livestock farms in Lancaster County is abetting the pollution of the Susquehanna River, an environmental advocacy group charges.More than half of the county's industrial farms, known as concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, are out of comp......
2008-09-17 11:15:00
STEPHEN ZOOK
A. Dale Herr isn't ready to invest in an advanced spray control system. "The day I have to have a machine drive my tractor, I'll quit," the Kirkwood farmer joked. However, even Herr acknowledges the usefulness of some technological advances in farming. "I think ......
2008-09-15 11:41:00
RYAN ROBINSON
More than 7,000 dead cattle taken to a slaughter plant in the county each year will soon be buried on farms instead, or composted. It's the result of a rule change by the FDA that will also lead to more dead horses being disposed of on farms. A local farm issues expert and some renderi......
2008-08-21 00:37:00
DAVE PIDGEON
If votes can grow out in the fields of rural Pennsylvania and across the nation, presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama are hoping for a plentiful harvest this fall.Both campaigns drew attention to the rural vote Tuesday as a retired state senator from Lancaster joined the Mc......
2008-08-05 00:50:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
East Lampeter Township supervisors don't want to create an agricultural security zone, and they are taking their fight to Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.By a 3-1 vote, the supervisors decided Monday to appeal a decision rendered last month in Lancaster County Court.The controve......
2008-07-30 01:41:00
MICHAEL YODER
Just before Lloyd Kreider left for his cabin in Juniata County on Saturday, he remarked to his wife, Mary Lois, that he had never seen their farm looking so perfect.Most of the crops on the 12-acre farm near Kirkwood bristled with produce. Sweet corn was in abundance; tomatoes hung heavy o......
2008-07-24 01:18:00
P.J. REILLY
David and Ruthie Blank want to become part of Lancaster County's next generation of farmers. Since 2001, the couple has rented a 70-acre farm in Salisbury Township from David's parents to run a 52-cow dairy. Thanks in part to a government loan program, the Blanks soon will own that......
2008-07-20 00:17:00
JON RUTTER
Two Lancaster County Court judges have ruled in favor of Amish farmers asking for an agricultural security area in East Lampeter Township. The finding by Judge Margaret C. Miller and President Judge Louis J. Farina reverses a decision by the township supervisors denying the farmers' petitio......
2008-07-19 01:09:00
CARLA DIFONZO
Agriculturists are advising Lancaster County tobacco farmers to be on the lookout for blue mold. The first case of blue mold reported this year was confirmed July 11 near New Holland, where 85 percent of a five-acre field was infected. Since then, several blue mold cases throughout the cou......
2008-07-13 00:04:00
THE ECONOMIST
Corn blankets eastern Nebraska in the summer. Straight roads glide over the hills, dividing the fields like measuring tape — in the 19th century the Homestead Act sectioned the land into neat plots for new settlers. Patty Coady's family did not get their farm from the act, but they are ha......
2008-07-04 00:02:00
MICHAEL YODER
The freedom to make personal choices goes to the heart of the Fourth of July, and farmers of Lancaster County are celebrating victories in their campaign to provide food directly to the public.The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a national organization created to fight for farmers'......
2008-06-20 02:02:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
How sweet it is.Sweet corn, Lancaster County's ever-popular food from the fields, is back, and some of the season's first ears go on sale Monday at Funk's Farm Market and Garden Center in Millersville."It looks good out there," Fred Funk said. "The ears we......
2008-06-14 01:19:00
MICHAEL YODER
If the current salmonella outbreak in tomatoes has a silver lining, it could be that consumers are starting to ask more questions about where their food comes from.And farmers in Lancaster County selling their own fruits and vegetables have noticed an increase this season in people looking......
2008-06-14 00:21:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Martha Wolgemuth Lyons never thought she would see her 100th birthday, even though her own mother lived to age 99.With the physique of a 70-year-old, Lyons has had no health problems, though she did develop genetic tremors — not Parkinson's Disease — at age 92."......
2008-06-12 01:01:00
MICHAEL YODER
Mention the words "farm bill," and many people probably think of wealthy farmers receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer money for crop subsidies.But the $300 billion Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, as it is officially known, includes many provisions besides direct p......
2008-06-12 00:53:00
MICHAEL YODER
The most controversial aspect of U.S farm policy is probably direct agricultural subsidies.Lancaster County farmers receive far less in subsidies than large-scale corn farmers in the Midwest and cotton and rice farmers in the South, but plenty have received payments from past farm bills....
2008-06-04 21:37:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Every day we pass cows and mules in the fields and the farms where pigs and chickens grow up to be lunchmeat, but many of us really don't know much about farm animals.So one warm spring day we set out to find farmers and learn more about the animals they raise. ...
2008-05-28 10:41:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Three times farmers asked East Lampeter Township to include their properties in an agricultural security zone. Three times they were denied. Next week, a lawyer for 11 of the farmers will tell a county judge that East Lampeter Township has treated them unfairly and should approve their pet......
2008-05-25 00:08:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
Forget global economy. Lititz likes local when it comes to food. The weather and local shoppers brought a warm welcome to the Lititz Farmers Market at its opening day, Saturday. The outdoor market, on Water Street one block off Main Street, only provides stands to growers located within a ......
2008-05-23 11:21:00
DAN RORABAUGH
With the rainy spring Lancaster County has seen so far, local farmers needed a little help to get the strawberries growing. Thanks to high-tunnel growing facilities, local strawberries have arrived, despite the less-than-optimal conditions the region experienced early in the growing season....
2008-04-19 00:36:00
PATRICK BURNS
An ethanol plant like the controversial corn distillery proposed in Conoy Township won't produce the biofuel that eliminates our dependency on fossil fuels, but it is a start.That's was the message from Kathleen A. McGinty, state secretary of Environmental Protection, in Lancaster ......
2008-04-17 01:12:00
MICHAEL YODER
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......
2008-04-12 00:52:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The hotly contested race to win the GOP nomination for the state Senate seat in the 13th District got hotter Friday as accusations flew regarding the candidates' latest financial disclosures.Of specific interest to many was the report of West Lampeter Township supervisor Lloyd K. Smuck......
2008-04-10 10:44:00
RYAN ROBINSON
For some local farmers and food makers, a trip to the hospital is a good thing. Lancaster General Hospital has set the goal of spending $800,000 to $1 million more a year on food from within Pennsylvania. Patients and customers of LGH cafes will be able to chow down on more of their favori......
2008-03-28 01:01:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Without transferable development rights, or TDRs, the whole of Manheim Township "would resemble Fruitville Pike" in terms of development and traffic, says Nelson Rohrer.Rohrer, a farmer, was president of the Manheim Township board of commissioners when the municipality's TDR ......
2008-03-21 00:47:00
MICHAEL YODER
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......
2008-03-13 11:20:00
RYAN ROBINSON and CHAD UMBLE
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture got a report Wednesday of a large pile of dead swine at a Leola farm. State animal health inspectors visited Levi R. Miller's farm at 238 Newport Road this morning only to find that the 100 or so dead pigs had been buried last night. "We ......
2008-03-05 01:21:00
JOHN FRIEL
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......
2008-02-25 12:47:00
SHARON COHEN
(AP)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 d......
2008-02-21 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Pennsylvania landowners resist trend away from conservation•••When I drove past the Sheetz on Route 23 in New Holland Wednesday morning and saw "$3.09" printed on the store's sign as the lowest cost for a gallon of gas, I ......
2008-02-20 01:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Lawmakers in Harrisburg will try to figure out this week how to keep municipalities from being bankrupted by the cost of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.Under a federal mandate, municipalities in the bay's watershed, which includes the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, have just tw......
2008-02-07 01:06:00
MICHAEL YODER
There is no crystal ball in which to see the future of farming, but current trends give some reasons for concern, H. Louis Moore told his audience at Wednesday's agricultural seminar.More than 250 people turned out Wednesday morning for the 25th annual seminar, presented at Shady Maple Smo......
2008-02-07 01:01:00
MICHAEL YODER
The difference between profit and loss for a cattle farmer can be measured in pounds.And that leads to uncertainties for the future of farming and coming generations of farmers.More than 170 people gathered at Lancaster Farm & Home Center Tuesday afternoon for the annual Cattle ......
2008-02-01 02:18:00
JEFF HAWKES
These uncertain economic times heighten the urgency of the task businessman and longtime civic leader James Shultz is shouldering.Shultz, development manager for Charter Homes, is co-chairing a first-ever effort to quantify the strengths and weaknesses of Lancaster County's transitioni......
2008-01-23 00:33:00
PATRICK BURNS
A global shortage of key brewing ingredients could have some bar patrons crying in their beer next month.Christian Heim, brew master at Lancaster Brewing Co., said price hikes brought on by shortages of malted barley and hops have been sobering. Beginning Feb. 1 the company will hike pint ......
2008-01-13 00:05:00
CRIS FOEHLINGER
Derek Spayd doesn't want a career raising sheep. "I don't like sheep that much," he said from his sheep pen at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Saturday. He may not like sheep that much, but they must take to him, as the 15-year-old earned two Master Showmanship awards during t......
2008-01-12 03:11:00
MICHAEL YODER
Shawn House is on a crusade to try and educate the public about the misunderstood main ingredient of the food products he sells: hemp.The resident of Columbia has an elaborate stand in the Pennsylvania Marketplace at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, which ends at 5 p.m. today.House's......
2008-01-11 09:33:00
TIM MEKEEL
At the first Economic Development Co. of Lancaster County annual breakfast meeting, fewer than 100 people gathered in a side room at the Willow Valley Resort & Conference Center. They heard how the organization had helped get funding for a handful of manufacturing and industrial projects....
2008-01-10 02:11:00
MICHAEL YODER
Keeping the livestock population of Pennsylvania safe from the spread of disease is a daunting task.And keeping those same animals safe at the Pennsylvania Farm Show is a 'round-the-clock job requiring staff members to live at the complex for more than a week.Dr. Anthony P. LaBa......
2008-01-06 00:17:00
JON RUTTER
The 2008 Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg has 900 pounds of butter to burn. Penn State and State College High School will melt the show's signature butter sculpture, which depicts children boarding a school bus and a girl leading a cow, into roughly 116 gallons of biofuel, after the eve......
2008-01-06 00:16:00
MARTY CRISP
The Farm Show is a hands-on place, not just for participants but for visitors, too. Eleven "learning stations," scattered throughout the 24-acre building, encourage all comers to pet a rabbit, a pig, a cow, a chicken, a horse, and several alpacas. "We wanted to make Farm Sho......
2008-01-06 00:15:00
MARTY CRISP
The Pennsylvania Farm Show is a state-fair-sized event. But it's mostly been midway-ride-free. Four years ago, the Pennsylvania State Showmen's Association, comprising 550 members, brought a carousel to the Farm Show. "We'd tried it outside, years ago," said Steve Swi......
2008-01-06 00:15:00
PAUL FRANZ
The announcer at the Farm Show's large arena couldn't have fooled anyone when he said, "The Keystone State doesn't come to mind when you think rodeo." Hundreds of kids from high schools across the state came to participate in rodeo events Saturday before a crowd of more th......
2008-01-06 00:14:00
MARTY CRISP
Where can you get a peacock feather and say "hello" to the peacock it came from? Where can you meet a "professional hat shaper" and a person dressed up as a tooth? Where can you buy elk bologna for $7 a pound? The Farm Show, of course. It's an offbeat plac......
2008-01-06 00:13:00
PAUL FRANZ
What makes a good bale of hay? Good question. Unlike the hay you see at a farm hay ride or a tourist attraction, it isn't supposed to be golden yellow. In fact, this year's hay contest winner at the Farm Show looked more like a dark, lime green. But that's perfectly n......
2008-01-06 00:13:00
MARTY CRISP
"Therapy Dog — Please Pet Me." Golden retrievers and a yellow Lab wore bright yellow vests as they greeted visitors at the "Discover What Dogs Can Do" learning station in Farm Show's Main Hall, Saturday. Thousands of hands reached out to touch Toby, Sam and Liberty......
2008-01-06 00:11:00
STAFF REPORT
Under Horses, Belgian, Nathan Yoder, Peach Bottom Belgians, Peach Bottom, won the following: Halter Classes, Belgian Mare, 3 years and under 4, first; Belgian Reserve Senior Champion Mare, first. Belgian Mare, 2 years and under 3, first; Belgian Mare, 1 year and under 2, second; Belgian Reserve Juni...
2008-01-05 12:26:00
RYAN ROBINSON and JENNA SPINELLE
Gena Strzelecki wasn't too happy about getting up at 5 a.m. today to drive a friend to the Pennsylvania Farm Show. "I saw a planet (in the sky), it was so dark and early," the Fleetwood woman said. But when she arrived and peered into the gigantic main hall, the overwhelmed S......
2008-01-05 02:11:00
MICHAEL YODER
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....
2008-01-05 02:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
During the break between geometry and gym classes, there's nothing quite like a good grilled chicken and pesto with provolone on ciabatta bread.And for starters, you can't beat a baby spinach, chard, radicchio and red leaf salad. Or how about a medley of organic cheddar cheese and ......
2008-01-04 02:08:00
MICHAEL YODER
More than 250 years of Lancaster County agricultural history is still growing at Landis Valley Museum.Irwin Richman, director of research and development of the Heirloom Seed Project at the museum, gave an hourlong speech at the Lititz Public Library Thursday night for about 30 members of ......
2007-12-28 00:01:00
STAFF REPORT
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....
2007-12-26 00:03:00
JOHN FRIEL
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......
2007-12-20 02:01:00
TOM KNAPP
Plans for a $100 million ethanol plant in western Lancaster County don't include the right trees and shrubs, a landscaping expert testified Wednesday.Conoy Township supervisors are considering a conditional-use application by Lancaster Biofuels to build a corn-to-ethanol distillery on ......
2007-12-13 01:15:00
P.J. REILLY
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......
2007-12-11 11:59:00
TIM MEKEEL
Smokestacks. Sure, the Economic Development Co. of Lancaster County likes smokestacks. But in the past seven years, it's gotten fond of silos too. The EDC has become a major financier of agriculture in Lancaster County by tapping in to three recently enacted state programs. S......
2007-11-21 01:21:00
MICHAEL YODER
Local farmers can soon "REAP" the benefits of new Pennsylvania legislation aimed at cleaning up the environment through economic incentives.More than 100 farmers and business owners turned out Tuesday morning at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center for a forum to discuss the new Resource Enh......
2007-11-10 01:37:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Michael Rosenkrantz said he didn't just like his job as Central Market's market master, he loved it."For me, it was more than just a job; it was a way of life," he said Friday. "The market scene is something I've been in love with for about 20 years.&quo......
2007-11-07 13:30:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
The challenges ahead for the School District of Lancaster are many. The district is searching for a permanent superintendent, it's embarking on a $150 million renovation project and is beset by low test scores. And now it has five new school board members, who will need some time to le......
2007-11-07 02:17:00
BRIAN WALLACE and TOM KNAPP
Four newcomers and a former school board member, all Democrats, were victorious Tuesday in the race for five seats on the School District of Lancaster board.The lone incumbent, Republican B. John McGrann III, failed in his bid for a four-year seat on the board, as did Republican Wesley S. ......
2007-11-02 11:21:00
ROBYN MEADOWS and CINDY STAUFFER
This is a critical time for the School District of Lancaster. The district needs to hire a superintendent, prepare for a $150-million districtwide improvement project and improve academics. Hoping to lead the district through these challenges are seven candidates for five seats on the scho......
2007-10-31 01:13:00
BRIAN WALLACE
An incumbent, a former school board member and five newcomers are vying for five seats on the School District of Lancaster board in Tuesday's election.B. John McGrann III, who was appointed to an open seat on the board in August 2006, is the sole incumbent in the race.The other cand......
2007-10-31 01:10:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The five candidates for three Lancaster County commissioner seats hit the home stretch Tuesday, appearing in Lancaster city for their final debate before Tuesday's election.The event was sponsored by Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry and held before dozens of people in South......
2007-10-30 02:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Editor's note: This is the first of a series of articles examining issues in the Lancaster County commissioners' race.•••Preserving farmland ranks among the most important issues in this year's Lancaster County commissioners......
2007-10-26 01:12:00
CARLA DI FONZO
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......
2007-10-24 01:00:00
MICHAEL YODER
The president of Lancaster Biofuels finished his testimony Tuesday night on the proposed ethanol plant in Conoy Township.Seth Obetz, president of Worley & Obetz and the new biofuels company, was questioned for more than an hour during the conditional-use hearing at the Bainbridge Fire ......
2007-10-17 11:35:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-10-16 11:21:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Nearly 1,200 international show horses and riders will compete at the 62nd-annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show, which begins Thursday and runs through Oct. 27 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg. The event is billed as America's largest indoor multi-breed hor......
2007-10-12 01:18:00
MICHAEL YODER
Earl and Dona Moyer have been a fixture at the Manheim Community Farm Show for decades, having toiled over hot vats of frying oil for almost 40 years.The Manheim couple have volunteered at the french fry stand since the late 1960s. They've run it since 1977, turning it into one of the ......
2007-10-11 01:54:00
JENNIFER TODD
The seven candidates for school board in the School District of Lancaster were in accord in several key areas during a candidates' forum Wednesday night at McCaskey High School.All agreed the role of the board is to oversee — not micromanage — and all touted the importance ......
2007-10-10 01:11:00
MICHAEL YODER
As corn stalks turn brown and tomato vines start to wilt, many fields and farm stands in Lancaster County are ablaze with a bright orange fixture of the fall harvest — pumpkins.Farmers throughout the county report a bumper crop of pumpkins, despite the dry growing season.Jonat......
2007-10-06 11:16:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
They want to maintain it as a purely "agriculture event, with emphasis on our rich agriculture heritage," as one farm show official put it. That's because the community has shown it would rather have a farm and community celebration than "a fair atmosphere" with lo......
2007-09-29 03:33:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Thursday at the 89th annual Ephrata Fair was dominated by the dairy cow competition at Tent City in Grater Park.Young future farmers put their finest efforts into raising and showing their cows, and the cows themselves, washed and groomed, looked their best.Emily Hartranft of Bernvi......
2007-09-25 00:59:00
MICHAEL YODER
Under a clear moonlit Monday night, volunteers of all ages put the finishing touches on the West Lampeter fairgrounds — setting up animal pens and produce exhibits and preparing food stands.Billed as a true farm show — no carnival rides or games — the West Lampeter Commun......
2007-09-24 11:00:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
This being Lancaster County, someone has a corn-chowder recipe in the competition. "Maybe they should have a bologna one in there, too," the organizer of the contest, a new one for the West Lampeter Fair, joked this week. Want to try some great gazpacho? Or a bodacious beef barle......
2007-09-23 00:20:00
PAUL FRANZ
A 63-year-old Mount Joy man died Saturday when a barn floor collapsed under the farm tractor he was driving at 1501 Prospect Road, Manor Township. Police withheld the man's identity Saturday pending the notification of his family. The man worked as a tobacco-stripper for a local tennan......
2007-09-20 11:10:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-09-20 10:50:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-09-20 10:45:00
RYAN ROBINSON
"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 &......
2007-09-20 00:58:00
ROXANNE TODD
Sometimes change isn't such a good thing. Consider Southern Lancaster County Community Fair.Year after year for 58 years, the fair's directors have striven to keep it an agricultural event."It's a country fair, for sure!" Stacy Roefaro, who recently moved to th......
2007-09-19 23:07:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-09-19 11:17:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-09-19 11:07:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-09-18 11:50:00
RYAN ROBINSON
"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......
2007-09-18 11:10:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-09-18 11:10:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-09-17 01:00:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A nonprofit foundation that supports School District of Lancaster schools is hosting a forum for school board candidates Oct. 10.The event, sponsored by Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment, will be held at 7 p.m. in the recital hall of McCaskey High School.Seven candidat......
2007-09-10 11:20:00
CHAD UMBLE
Corn prices driven higher by the demand for ethanol from plants like one proposed in Conoy Township could be a boon for farmers. But environmentalists worry that growing more corn in the region could be a bust for the Chesapeake Bay. In a new report this week, the Chesapeake Bay Commiss......
2007-09-07 01:37:00
MICHAEL YODER
A steady stream of trucks has made the trip back a small dirt lane on a farm outside Atglen for the last four days, all for the cause of helping fellow farmers.Vehicles filled to the brim with corn silage dump their loads into a 25-foot deep pit, where it will be stored until the fall. The......
2007-09-05 11:46:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-08-29 11:31:00
WENDY S. CALDWELL
(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......
2007-08-29 02:10:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County's Plain Sect farmers tend to steer clear of the government and keep to their Old Order ways.More and more these days, however, the government is creating regulations aimed at the farming industry that affect Plain Sect and non-Plain Sect farmers alike.Many of th......
2007-08-22 03:11:00
MICHAEL YODER
Lancaster County tobacco growers will be receiving millions of dollars from tobacco companies over the next few years thanks to the North Carolina court system.Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett announced Tuesday that the North Carolina Business Court recently ruled that Philip Morr......
2007-08-19 00:13:00
MARTY CRISP
A bale of straw seems like a simple thing. Until, that is, you go to the 59th Rough and Tumble Threshermen's Reunion in Kinzers and watch the threshing crew make one with the Dedrick horse-powered jumper press, a piece of farm machinery that was new-fangled in the 1890s. First, you pit......
2007-08-18 12:09:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Don't put off going to the Threshermen's Reunion at Rough and Tumble in Kinzers. Because every August there are fewer and fewer codgers — those are the old guys in the suspenders and International Harvester caps, the white-haired Plain farmers and other graybeards who know their w......
2007-08-07 01:31:00
MICHAEL YODER
As farmers and homeowners in most of Pennsylvania deal with a lack of rain, Lancaster County has come through the summer months relatively unscathed.State officials Monday declared a drought watch for most of Pennsylvania, with the exception of nine counties in the southeast region, includ......
2007-08-05 00:17:00
JON RUTTER
The story of the land is plain to see at Funk's Farm Market & Garden Center outside Millersville. Ripe red Washington Boro tomatoes shine on the stands. Fragrant rainbows of flowers light up the garden center. But Funk land development stories also persist. A possible meeting ......
2007-07-22 00:04:00
STEPHEN KOPFINGER
Flanked by displays of shimmering white onions, golden potatoes and lush, leafy cabbage, food grower Tom Culton surveyed the bustling scene around him. "This is perfect for selling produce," he said of the venerable market structure in the heart of the city. "That's what it w......
2007-07-21 13:17:00
WENDY S. CALDWELL
(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...
2007-07-20 02:52:00
JEFF HAWKES
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......
2007-07-18 01:31:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Taking $4.2 million from the state Department of Agriculture prompted several county Republican lawmakers to vote against the state budget this week."A cut this size is going to be a wake-up call for the whole ag community," said state Rep. Gordon Denlinger of Narvon, a member of......
2007-07-17 01:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON
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......
2007-07-11 02:13:00
MICHAEL YODER
There are several signs that signal the arrival of the hot summer months — singing cicadas in the trees, afternoon thunderstorms appearing out of thick air and the ubiquitous Lancaster County sweet corn.Several local farm markets and roadside stands started featuring the favorite sum......
2007-07-01 00:10:00
CRIS FOEHLINGER
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,......
2007-06-27 00:01:00
STAFF REPORT
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......
2007-06-26 01:02:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
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....
2007-06-20 12:30:00
WENDY S. CALDWELL
(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......
2007-06-17 00:07:00
CRIS FOEHLINGER
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......
2007-06-15 02:45:00
ERIC HUGHES
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, ......
2007-06-15 02:04:00
MICHAEL YODER
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......
2007-06-13 14:11:00
WENDY S. CALDWELL
(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......
2007-06-12 14:01:00
RYAN ROBINSON
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......
2007-06-12 13:55:00
BERNARD HARRIS
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 ......
2007-06-01 14:12:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A month ago, farmers hoped for a few weeks of no rain so they could plant their crops. Now, after the second very dry May in the last three years here — and daily highs now hitting 90 degrees — their young plants badly need a drink. "Only now is it reaching a critical time (for......
2007-05-28 00:03:00
RACHEL FETROW
Choking back tears as he addressed a full pavilion, author Andrew Farmer introduced his family and his book, "Finding the Way."Farmer said focus of the book is former Landisville resident John Long. Long was Farmer's mother's first husband. Farmer spoke at Sunday's Me......
2007-05-27 00:09:00
JON RUTTER
White milk is a legal gray area for Levi Miller. The state cited him last year for selling the beverage unpasteurized and unlicensed from his Leacock Township dairy. Other Amish farmers are in the same boat. The controversy over so-called raw milk has long weighed on them. And the bur......
2007-05-18 02:05:00
STAFF REPORT
They're not the Greatest Generation, but they are an incredible simulation.The Lancaster County Historical Society will host its annual World War II encampment this weekend.More than 75 re-enactors representing both Allied and Axis soldiers and civilians will set up canvas tents and......
2007-05-15 01:29:00
PATRICK BURNS
Weary of exorbitant trucking costs, Wenger's Feed Mill Inc. last year decided to end shipments from the Midwest of a vital soybean ingredient that is added to its premium meal.Wenger's instead opened its own expelled soybean plant at 271 Heisey Quarry Road in Rheems last April, a move that......
2007-05-10 01:55:00
Brian Wallace
Two incumbents, a former school board member and six newcomers are vying for five open seats on the nine-member School District of Lancaster board.Seven Democrats and two Republicans are running in the May 15 primary, and most of them have cross-filed to appear on both parties' ballots......
2007-05-07 07:57:00
Dave Pidgeon
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......
2007-05-03 00:02:00
P.J. Reilly
Deer management dispute suggests more conflict ahead•••If the Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer management program were an airplane, the "Fasten Seatbelts" sign would be on and the pilot would be announcing, "We are anticipating som......
2007-05-02 00:03:00
Roberta Strickler
Come late May to the first of June, farmer Frank Pannell and his Barr cousins will get out the tractor, hitch up the planter and go out to plant bell peppers on the farm on Barr Road, near New Providence. Pannell's mother was born a Barr, and Pannell has been working on the farm most of his 2......
2007-04-28 00:01:00
Larry Alexander
To the farmers of southern Lancaster County who depended on it, the Peach Bottom and Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad was lovingly dubbed the "Little, Old and Slow."But during the 50-plus years it chugged between Peach Bottom, Quarryville and Oxford in Chester County, it w......
2007-04-21 02:09:00
Michael Yoder
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......
2007-04-17 13:43:00
AD CRABLE
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....
2007-04-11 14:17:00
RYAN ROBINSON
More federal dollars are proposed for landowners who adopt conservation practices, and the funds may become easier to tap. That's the message Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Arlen L. Lancaster stressed during his visit to the county this morning. Before he spoke at Dale Herr's......
2007-04-10 01:03:00
Michael Yoder
A local group believes people who dine in local restaurants would like to eat food from local farms. The farmers are out there, the restaurants are interested, and it's just a matter of bringing them together. Monday night, the process began.•••Lanc......
2007-04-06 01:47:00
Michael Yoder
As the population increases in rural areas of Lancaster County, state Rep. Bryan Cutler said, conflicts between farmers and the general public are becoming more pronounced.Two bills Cutler introduced in the state House of Representatives last week aim to ease that tension.The first ......
2007-04-04 13:47:00
Roxanne Todd
Students from several local chapters of the Future Farmers of America converged on Solanco High School last week to compete in the 2007 Lancaster County FFA Small Gas Engine Contest. Competitors had to demonstrate their general knowledge of small engines, as well as repair manuals and tool and ......
