By Duncan Allison

There are many reasons for preserving Chester County farmland. We are blessed to have some of the most productive agricultural soils in the country. We are also favored by well distributed rainfall. These natural elements mean that we have a precious resource of international significance.

In addition to serving as the foundation for food and fiber, preserved farms prime the economic engine of agriculture, one of the County’s top industries. This is surely one of the major reasons why we must preserve our best farmland.

Gradual loss of farmland can be devastating for family farms (96% of farms in Chester County are family owned, some for as many as nine generations). Conversion of farmland can also lead to the eventual loss of vital infrastructure that sustains our farms and drives the economy.

Businesses that sell and service farm equipment, milk collection companies, custom farm operators, fertilizer dealerships, grain processors and many other farm supply industries need a healthy and stable base of farming. Conversely, without this infrastructure of supporting businesses, farm owners and operators would be forced to relocate or go out of business.

The base level of demand assured by permanently preserved farmland assures a critical level of future demand thereby creating a favorable environment for continued private sector investment in these support industries.

In addition to having enough demand to support farming related industries, agriculture requires a critical sized land mass to generate revenue levels needed to pay for the level of automation required to be competitive.

Tractors and harvesters and other farm equipment have become increasingly powerful and equipped with computers and GPS which has increased efficiency, yields and provided environmental benefits, but require significant acreages to be economic.

Smaller farms often rely on custom farmers to perform the major crop management operations and can only operate in unique markets or areas with significant farm acreage available for cultivation in the immediate area. When smaller farms are preserved in clusters – as has been the case in Chester County – custom farmers are able to realize an economy of scale in operation needed to farm the land and generate acceptable profit margins.

Farmland preservation helps support related businesses and also benefits the owner of the land by providing a payment to the owner for the development rights. Even after selling the development rights, they still retain ownership and can keep farming their ground or lease it out to a farm operator.

The farm owner gains preservation of the farm and receives an assessed per acre sum for giving up the development rights to the land. These funds are often used to help with estate planning, succession planning, the diversification of the farm business, updating equipment or even buying additional farmland to expand operations.

Farming continues to be our major industry in Chester County and a major employer. Its’ continued viability is critical to our economic health, social stability and leads to a profound sense of place that separates us from other counties in the region like Delaware, Philadelphia and Montgomery.

Chester County is projected to continue developing as one of the fastest growing counties in the state which puts an even greater importance on the success of our preservation efforts. If we want to maintain enough farming to maintain the support businesses and encourage a pool of qualified labor in our rural countryside we need to be sure that our valuable farmland is preserved.

Chester County residents have experienced the consequences of increasing population and growth for decades and continue to support farmland preservation. Consistent with this support, the County Commissioners are committed to maintaining the County’s award winning preservation efforts by allocating funds to the Department of Open Space Preservation to keep pace with preservation goals and remain ahead of development pressures.

The Commissioners have provided seed money for preservation which has attracted additional funds from the Commonwealth, municipalities, nonprofits, and the federal government. These partnerships have been vital and helped Chester County to create one of the top ranked preservation programs in the country.

Farm preservation is best achieved when priority is placed on farms on the best land and when the result is sustainable clusters of permanently preserved farmland.

We are fortunate in having an Open Space Preservation Department which has forged partnerships, completed projects, developed innovative programs and established farmland preservation criteria that serve as the foundation for preserving our best farmland “the most productive non-irrigated agricultural soils in the world.”

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Duncan Allison gained degrees in horticulture and extension education in the UK and US and spent most of his career working for the DuPont Company developing and marketing crop protection chemicals. Recently he has written reports for a global ag publisher and for New Jersey-based international business consultants Kline & Co. For the last 16 years he has been heavily involved in the local farming of Chester County where he has lived with his wife and family since 1980.

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Top photo courtesy of Chester County Planning Commission.