The Land Conservancy of Adams County partnered with Conewago Township supervisors and a local farmer to permanently preserve 48 acres of farmland outside McSherrystown.

The farm’s owner, Barb Martin, wanted to preserve her family’s farm so her family could continue to farm in future generations.

“I grew up on a farm in Adams County, just a couple miles from here,” said Martin. “After my husband and I were married a few years, we decided to go back into farming. He passed away in 2014 and I decided to focus on the farming and make that my livelihood so that my son, who was 12 years old at the time, would have an opportunity to farm. Most of my daughters have married farmers, and today my son is a diehard farmer and works the farm with me. I want to preserve this land so that when I’m not here, my children will have land to farm.”

“We were thrilled when the Conewago Township supervisors agreed to help us purchase an easement on the Martin farm,” said the Land Conservancy of Adams County’s Land Conservation Director Sarah Kipp. “Preserving this property has strategic importance not only because it’s part of a contiguous area of preserved farmland, but also because it abuts a residential development on the outskirts of McSherrystown. It’s this aspect that was especially appealing to the Conewago Township supervisors, since development and re-zoning proposals in recent years have caused alarm among some residents. Preserving this farm will help direct new development back toward McSherrystown and Hanover, limiting sprawl into the countryside and encouraging growth where infrastructure already exists.”

The Land Conservancy of Adams County is a nonprofit, member-supported land trust accredited by the national Land Trust Alliance’s Land Trust Accreditation Commission. The organization’s mission is to preserve the rural lands and character of Adams County.

(Reprinted from the WeConservePA website.)

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[Posted: February 11, 2023]

2/13/2023