by Dick Wanner, reporter
Lancaster Farming; February 22, 2011

LITITZ, Pa. — Daniel Heller believes environmental regulation is the single most important issue facing the Lancaster County farming community, a community that generates $4 billion in economic activity. “We feel the EPA has made Lancaster County ground zero in watershed management,” Heller said in his office here at Flint Rock Farm. “But farmers are not sure of what they should and should not be doing.

“All of us want clean water. But there is the risk of putting some farmers out of business without really solving any environmental problems. We’d like to come up with solutions that do work, that make sense and that can be funded,” he said.

Heller’s thoughts carry some weight. Heller is chairman of the Lancaster County Agriculture Council, a group formed in January of this year to deal with current and future issues affecting the county’s farmers and agribusinesses.

The council board consists of 11 farmers and 11 representatives from the agribusiness community, each of whom will have a vote on matters brought before the board. In addition there are 11 nonvoting members.

Heller is also a full-time farmer. As president of Flint Rock Farms, he oversees an enterprise that produces a million-and-a-half broilers annually at the Lititz location. The business also owns a broiler facility in Delmarva.

Flint Rock Stables, which started with 12 horse stalls in 2001, has grown to include an indoor riding arena and a total of 40 stalls for boarding horses. Like the broiler houses, the stables are on the farm where Heller was born and grew up, and where he continues the farming legacy of his grandfather and father.

Scott Sheely, executive director of the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board, is one of the nonvoting members but a key figure in the development of the Ag Council. The local WIB is providing funding and some staff to get the council started, Sheely said, with the goal of having it become a stand-alone entity in the near future.

“It has been more than five years since the Blue Ribbon Commission on Lancaster County Agriculture issued its report,” Sheely said.

Some of the suggestions in the report have been implemented, he said, but there has been a growing feeling that leaders in the farm community — farmers themselves, the businesses that work with them and the organizations that serve them — need to come together, focus on the issues and unite in creating an atmosphere that will help agriculture flourish in the county.

Sheely said the Center of Excellence in Production Agriculture will be absorbed in the new council. The website developed by the Center of Excellence will become part of the council. The website is at www.keeplancastercountyfarming.com. Sheely said people who want to follow the work of the council will be able to keep up with the news on the website.

Here are board members of the Lancaster County Agriculture Council:
• Producers — Rob Barley, Star Rock Farms; Jack Coleman, Cherry Crest Farm; Lisa Graybeal, Graywood Farms; Dan Heller; Steve Hershey; George Hurst, Oregon Dairy; J. Kevin Rohrer; Jeff Balmer, Stoney Path Farm; and a representative from the Plain Sect community.

• Agribusiness — Jim Adams, Wenger Feeds; Derek Baucom, Tyson Foods; Dave Dell, Wenger Feeds; Mary Henry, Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit; Dale Hershey, Hometown Heritage Bank; Don Hoover, Binkley and Hurst; Greg Kirkham, Westfield Insurance; Michael Peachey, Acuity Advisors; and Lamar King, Fulton Bank.

• Nonvoting members — Tom Baldrige, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry; James Cowhey, Lancaster County Planning Commission; Chris Herr, PennAg Industries; Lyle Hosler, Economic Development Company of Lancaster County [and EDC Finance Corporation]; Matt Knepper, Lancaster County Agriculture Preservation Board; Karen Martenyk, Lancaster Farmland Trust; Don McNutt, Lancaster County Conservation District; Leon Ressler, Lancaster County Cooperative Extension; Scott Sheely; Dennis Stuckey, Lancaster County commissioners; a representative from Lancaster County agriculture educators.

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