Aaron E. Martin has handled plenty of farm auctions over the years, but even he was a little surprised at what happened Monday when he sold a 13.2-acre farmette at public auction.
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The Upper Leacock Township property was purchased for $1.045 million, which comes out to an impressive $79,167 per acre.
That's not a record for a Lancaster County farm — an 85.6-acre parcel in Clay Township sold for $102,500 an acre in April 2007 — but it's pretty impressive nonetheless, Martin said.
The farmette, at 345 Hess Road, was sold for Norman L. and Donna E. Stoltzfoos; the buyer was Aaron E. Fisher, Leola.
The property includes a dwelling, a shop and a chicken house, and the land not covered by the buildings is tillable, Martin said. It was most recently used to grow hay and raise free-range chickens, he said.
Zoned agricultural, the parcel is a certified organic farm and is enrolled in the Clean and Green program, Martin said.
He said the high price was probably due to location more than anything else.
The property is east of Leola about a mile south of Route 23, and is "pretty much surrounded" by Amish-owned farms, Martin said.
That's a prime farming spot, he said.
An agricultural parcel that size likely wouldn't fetch almost $80,000 an acre anywhere else in the county, Martin said.
Rudy DeLaurentis and his wife, Ann, of Concord House Real Estate, are appraisers with the Lancaster County Agricultural Preservation Board.
"That's really unusual for a farmette," Ann DeLaurentis said when told about the price.
But, she added, "the highest-priced farm properties are in that area."
Her husband also said that smaller properties for sale in Amish communities — such as the Hess Road farmette — are often bought by Plain-sect members, as was the case here. Even though they don't include much tillable land, he said, the parcels are ideal for young Amish farmers starting out.
Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.
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