Conservationists from Across the Northeastern United States Convene in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Written by: Linda Brownson, Grafton County

This July, Representatives from the northeastern United States traveled to the DoubleTree Resort in Lancaster for the National Association of Conservation District’s (NACD) Northeast Regional Meeting. Conservation leaders from the 12 northeastern states met for educational programs, tours, and networking. New Hampshire was represented by NACD Board member and NH Delegate Linda Brownson, joined by NHACD President Richard Mellor. Also present from NH at this gathering was our USDA-NRCS State Conservationist, Rick Ellsmore. It is always exciting to participate in a meeting that brings our counterparts from other northeastern states together. We share many of the same natural resource issues and concerns and can learn from each other on how to best address them. Pennsylvania conservation districts went all out to showcase some of their district projects via tours and educational sessions. Some of the highlights of this trip follows.

We learned about the Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road Program, unique to Pennsylvania apparently, which helps decrease pollution from unpaved roads. Living on a dirt road myself, I wanted to know more about it! Amazingly enough, Pennsylvania conservation districts administer $28 million annually through the state’s DGLVR Program. The program provides local road-owning entities with grant funding to complete projects with a focus on environmental improvements
to their roads. Improvements include improving ditch stability, adding crosspipes, filling entrenched roads, improving road base, managing wetlands and stream crossings, road surfacing, and more.

Both Richard and I chose the Conservation and Soil Health in Agriculture session on Monday, followed by two tours the following day. This conservation session complements much of what we are doing with our Soil Health Working Group in NH. We learned about general soil health principles such as evaluating soil properties like soil structure, aggregate stability, infiltration, and the role of
conservation practices such as cover cropping and no-till in a cropping system. Though many of the principles are familiar to us, because of the emphasis on soil health in our state, still there is a lot to learn in a different location, different soils, and different district activities in assisting the farmers to improve their soil health. Following the classroom session on Soil Health, the next day Richard and I visited two different farms in Lancaster County: one, the Brubaker Farm, a dairy farm with 1,100 cows on 1,800 acres. They ship 82,000 pounds of milk per day in a state-of-the-art operation. Among other things, they employ a methane digester, a manure separator, and practice drag hosing with a 1-1/2 mile reach. This 3 generation farm is all no-till and grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa, rye, and
wheat and a model for well-implemented conservation practices.

The second visit was to an Amish (called ‘Plain Sect’) farm in Lancaster County. About 68% of the land in this county is farmed and approximately half are farmed by the Amish. They are a Christian, Anabaptist group characterized by separation from the world and simple living, including plain dress and transporting themselves by horse and buggy. They are reluctant to adopt many of the conveniences of modern technology and forbid taking electricity from the grid. Why do they fear technology? If left untamed, certain technologies (like automobiles, computers, cellphones) might harm their community by disrupting traditions and bringing foreign values through mass media. Electricity from batteries is more local, controllable, and independent from the outside world.
The farm Richard and I visited used battery power to drive the fans in the barn. Many use propane gas to light their homes. Some of the more ‘progressive’ sects employ solar panels to charge batteries, though the more traditional groups forbid it.

Thus, it was interesting to see how they managed their farm with so many cultural compromises. Not surprisingly, the Amish dairy farms have fewer cows. The fields are planted and harvested using teams of horses or mules. I was told that the sect leaders worry that using tractors for field work would lead to full-scale mechanization and destruction of small family farms, in which all members
of the family take part. Amish families have normally 7-12 children, providing many farmhands!

Yet, their communities are thriving! In Lancaster County, the number of Amish Church Districts (each district comprised of 25-35 families) totaled 46 in 1970, population 7,500. Last year, the number of church districts totaled 220 with a population of 37,000. This is expected to double in twenty years. Interestingly, we were able to visit an Amish Farm because of the trusting relationship that has developed between the Lancaster County Conservation District and the Amish population. The District employs a full-time staff person solely as a ‘liason’ between the Amish and the ‘outside world!’ The Amish apparently do not participate in accepting money from the government, but they do accept technical assistance and, in this County, that TA mostly focuses on
helping the farmer control pollution.

There are 1400 miles of streams in Lancaster County and ½ of them are impaired. In 2016, the State started penalizing farms that don’t have conservation plans. Being so close to Chesapeake Bay with its focus on improving water quality, Pennsylvania has been slow to the table in cleaning up
their streams, using a top-down approach, according to John Chibirka, Resource Soil Scientist with NRCS in Lancaster County. Now they are immersed in phase III of WHIP, a bottom-up approach in which districts play a dominant role. Lancaster County now has 55% compliance with conservation plans. The District mantra is: “Everyone has a role in cleaning up our water.”