Manor Twp. farm added to wide preserved area
BY DAN NEPHIN, Staff Writer

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A small Manor Township farm likely will be the first farm of the year to be preserved in the county's farmland preservation program, and the county commissioners have approved two other farms for a state-sponsored low-interest loan program.

No county money would be used to buy the 19.5-acre farm at 3467 Anchor Road owned by Deborah Funk.

Instead, the county plans to use $64,416 in state money to buy development rights.

Now that the commissioners have given their approval, the state is expected to do likewise next month, according to Matthew Knepper, director of the Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board.

The farm's crops include field and sweet corn, wheat and tobacco.

The farm is adjacent to two other preserved farms and is in an area where more than 1,000 acres of farmland have been preserved, Knepper said at Tuesday's commissioners meeting.

The farm would be the 836th farm in the county's preservation program, bringing the total to 72,039 acres. Counting farms preserved by Lancaster Farmland Trust, the number is 1,215 farms totaling 95,260 acres.

The commissioners also approved Upper Leacock and Sadsbury farms for the Next Generation Farmer Loan Program. The program provides low-interest loans to people looking to become first-time farm owners.

The Chester County Industrial Development Authority oversees the program in Chester and Lancaster counties, and EDC Finance Corp. of Lancaster administers the loan program in Lancaster County.

Erin Lyons, project manager for EDC Finance, described the two farms:

n Emanuel and Emma Glick will borrow $100,000 to purchase a 59-acre dairy farm in Upper Leacock that they have been renting from Emanuel Glick's mother for 16 years. The Glicks run a 55-head dairy farm and grow corn and hay for feed and tomatoes to sell.

n Samuel and Sarah Beiler will borrow $275,000 to purchase a 60-acre dairy farm in Sadsbury that they've been renting from Samuel Beiler's parents for the past 11 years.

dnephin@lnpnews.com