New ag ordinance can benefit county's smaller farms
A public hearing on the proposal was held Monday at the commissioners' meeting where Bill Stone, director of the Lee County Extension Center, explained the changes in the updated ordinance.
The Lee County Voluntary Agriculture District Ordinance was adopted in 2013, creating a partnership between the county and landowners who were looking to protect and preserve farmlands.
However, after reviewing the changes allowed under the General Assembly's Farm Act of 2021, the Cooperative Extension staff recommended a new plan — the Agricultural and Farmland Preservation Ordinance.
"It's a positive way to promote agriculture," Stone said.
Three main changes are included in the proposed plan. One is eliminating the Agriculture Advisory Board-required membership based on districts.
Under the current ordinance, the districts are basically designated through townships, which Stone called "antiquated."
"What we found is that it restricted and kind of limited the pool of volunteer folks to serve on the board," he said.
The proposed ordinance will continue to focus on Voluntary Agricultural Districts and include the Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts.
The EVAD ordinance requires a 10-year irrevocable agreement but would allow participating landowners to receive up to 25% of gross sales of non-farm products and still qualify as a bona fide farm under state law. Participants are also given priority in agricultural grants and cost-share program.
Landowners in the EVAD are also eligible for agricultural state grants and cost-share programs.
The proposed ordinance also drops the minimum acreage requirements from five acres to one acre for production of horticultural or agricultural purposes to qualify as a state bona fide farm.
"We are finding more and more consistently over the last five or 10 years. There's been a huge influx in small farms in Lee County," Stone said.
"What we have is that having that five-acre minimum can be very restrictive, certainly for some of our small farmers, especially for those folks that have demonstrated they can be profitable on small acreage," he said.
By lowering the minimum acreage from five to one, "we anticipate we'll see a lot more people participating which will be good for the county and the farmland and promoting the viability of agriculture," Stone said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
SEPTA moving forward with service cuts across Philadelphia region with no funding fix in place
With no SEPTA funding deal reached, deep service cuts to bus, train and trolley services in the Philadelphia region are looking more likely. SEPTA's deadline day to receive state funding is here, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly has not provided funding to fill the $213 million budget gap for the transit authority. The lack of a deal leaves several questions for passengers across the region, including residents who take public transit to work and students heading back to school in two weeks. SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said the transit authority needed state funding by Aug. 14 to avoid disruptive cuts taking effect by Aug. 24. It would take about 10 days for the system to implement the new reduced schedules, making adjustments to things like train signals, digital signage at stations and on buses and more. "The 10 days between the deadline and the start of the new schedules is the bare minimum that we need to complete the multitude of tasks required to ensure that we can safely and efficiently transition service to new timetables," Sauer said in a recent news conference announcing the reduced schedules. Barring any last-minute deal, which seems unlikely, these cuts will likely start taking effect. Lawmakers on both sides have said they understand mass transit is important and they want to work toward a deal. But as of Thursday, what that deal looks like and where they go from here — with no bill on the table that can pass both chambers — is unclear. It's also unclear when the Pennsylvania House and Senate will be back in Harrisburg to discuss mass transit or the budget overall. These cuts would happen in two phases, with the first happening Aug. 24 and the second in January 2026. Sauer and other officials have warned that major service cuts would be the start of a "transit death spiral," where service cuts and fare increases result in fewer people using the system and paying fares, reducing revenue and necessitating further cuts. Sauer said Wednesday if funding comes through during the 10-day transition phase to reduced service, SEPTA would do its best to reverse the cuts quickly and have as minimal an impact on riders as possible. "We've been treating this as if it was an inevitability for months, to make sure when we get to this point, everything is in line to weather the storm, to blunt the impact on our customers as much as possible," assistant communications director Lex Powers said. A PDF of how each bus, train and trolley route will be impacted is available here on SEPTA's website, but here is a quick summary of the cuts that will take effect in August. Those cuts would be followed by a hiring freeze beginning Sept. 1 and a fare hike to $2.90, which would tie New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority for the highest fare in the country, though MTA may soon raise the fare to $3. If SEPTA makes it to January 2026 with no funding increase, these additional cuts would take place: A spokesperson said while SEPTA is holding out for something by the end of the day, they need to start getting ready. Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate wanted to draw around $300 million a year for the next two years from the Pennsylvania Transit Trust Fund. State Sen. Joe Picozzi of Northeast Philadelphia claimed the bill would be a "bridge" to fund SEPTA for the next two years while lawmakers work on a long-term solution. "It's a plan that sustains them until we can get long-term funding in place," Republican State Sen. Frank Farry said. "There's plenty of money in there and I can tell you, as I've talked to a lot of residents today, they're like, are you kidding me? The money for SEPTA is literally just sitting in a bank account in Harrisburg." House Democrats, SEPTA leaders and PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll came out against the plan Wednesday, arguing the GOP-backed plan would fund SEPTA's day-to-day operations with dollars meant for the future, taking away funding for things like infrastructure upgrades. SEPTA also pointed to a need to replace its aging rail cars, which general manager Scott Sauer said are more than 50 years old. Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, want to fund SEPTA through a tax on skill games, games similar to slot machines that are found in bars and convenience stores but operate through a legal loophole. Democrats in the legislature have said SEPTA's service cuts will lead to thousands of more cars on the roads and increase travel times, especially on the region's major highways. "I think it's difficult for a lot of people like me who live in the suburbs out here to get into the city for jobs," commuter Hannah Wenz said at the Wissahickon station on the Manayunk-Norristown Line, which would be under a 9 p.m. curfew starting in January. "I work in the hospital in the city, it's definitely affecting a lot of the workplace," Wenz said. Wenz added if she were not able to take SEPTA, she'd probably need to Uber to work. SEPTA without the cuts is "affordable for people like me, and it's convenient too," Wenz said.
Business Wire
3 days ago
- Business Wire
ReposiTrak Adds 36 Food Manufacturers, Suppliers and Distributors for Traceability, Including the First North American Producer of Couscous
SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ReposiTrak (NYSE:TRAK), the world's largest food traceability and regulatory compliance network, leveraging its established inventory management and out-of-stock reduction SaaS platform, is proud to add 36 food manufacturers, suppliers and distributors to the queue of companies joining the ReposiTrak Traceability Network® (RTN). These companies will efficiently exchange intricate, FDA-required Key Data Elements (KDEs) for each Critical Tracking Event (CTE) in their supply chains, with the goal of meeting the growing traceability demands of their retail customers. 'Food manufacturers, suppliers and distributors need to act now to meet traceability demands of retailer and wholesaler customers, who require more data for more foods than the FDA, with swifter deadlines,' said ReposiTrak Chairman and CEO Randy Fields. The suppliers who are preparing for traceability include the first North American producer of couscous whose offering has expanded to include short-cut pasta, quinoa, rice and Mediterranean blends, as well as a salsa manufacturer transforming cut fruits and vegetables into salsa varieties like green chili, pineapple and peach, in addition to enchilada sauces. Finally, a leading Canadian importer of foodservice products is joining, proving products such as feta, condiments and sauces, cut avocado and soy-based cheeses to restaurants. 'It's the industry – not the FDA – that's driving food traceability today,' said ReposiTrak Chairman and CEO Randy Fields. 'Food manufacturers, suppliers and distributors need to act now to meet the traceability demands of their retailer and wholesaler customers, who require more data for more foods than the FDA, with swifter deadlines.' The ReposiTrak Traceability Network requires no additional hardware. Every traceability data file is checked using a 500+ point error detection process and ReposiTrak's U.S.-based team works with food manufacturers and suppliers to make corrections, so that the data is as complete and accurate as possible before it reaches their retail, wholesale or foodservice customers. About ReposiTrak ReposiTrak (NYSE: TRAK) provides retailers, suppliers, food manufacturers and wholesalers with a robust solution suite to help reduce risk and remain in compliance with regulatory requirements, enhance operational controls and increase sales with unrivaled brand protection. Consisting of three product families – food traceability, compliance and risk management and supply chain solutions – ReposiTrak's integrated, cloud-based applications are supported by an unparalleled team of experts. For more information, please visit
CNBC
4 days ago
- CNBC
Buffett is not finding buying opportunities hence large cash pile, says Glenview Trust's Bill Stone
Bill Stone, Glenview Trust Company CIO, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss Stone's thoughts on Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile, what Stone would do with Berkshire's cash pile and much more.
