Dairy Farm

laurae@herald-mail.com Charles and Alliene Downs' bucolic farmland north of Clear Spring has been in her family since 1858 and a contract approved Wednesday will insure that it is permanently protected from development. The couple has agreed to sell the development rights to 129 acres of their land north of Clear Spring, which is farmed by a tenant crop farmer. "I feel that somebody has to make a stand and go against all this random development," Charles Downs said. Downs owns one of five Washington County farms accepted Wednesday into the state's Agricultural Land Preservation program.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro MERCERSBURG, Pa. - The open, gently rolling land along Oellig Road has served the Stoner family well for five generations, and now the family is taking steps to ensure that the 1,650-acre property will remain much as it is down through the years. The five brothers who make up Stoner's Inc. are selling development rights to the land, a few hundred acres at a time, to the state's farmland preservation program. Eleven other farms in Franklin County also have been placed in the preservation program.

Is agriculture an economic engine, a part of national defense or is it just producing food? I guess it depends on your point of view. However, I would say it is all three. How can it be, you say? First, let's look at agriculture as an economic engine. According to a report from the Pennsylvania Dairy Task Force Economic Development Committee, when a dairy farm spends money locally, it creates a multiplier effect more than two times the original dollar. In other words, for every $1 a dairy farm spends, roughly $2.50 in wages and related business transactions is contributed to the local economy.

WASHINGTON COUNTY A Washington County district judge ruled Monday that items belonging to a Williamsport-area farmer may be seized because of rent he owes his father. Charles Wiles owns 200 acres near Williamsport that his son, Greg, has used for a dairy farm. Today, the Washington County Sheriff's Department is to remove Greg Wiles' property from the land, including items that may be sold to pay off the debt to his father. The exception is Greg Wiles' 110 cows, which may stay on the land for 30 days.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - A Washington County district judge ruled Monday that items belonging to a Williamsport-area farmer may be seized because of rent he owes his father. Charles Wiles owns 200 acres near Williamsport that his son, Greg, has used for a dairy farm. Today, the Washington County Sheriff's Department is to remove Greg Wiles' property from the land, including items that may be sold to pay off the debt to his father. The exception is Greg Wiles' 110 cows, which may stay on the land for 30 days.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com ST. THOMAS, Pa. - An old, two-story stone barn was destroyed in an early morning fire Friday that is believed to have been caused by an engine heater on a tractor stored in the barn, said Robbie Mellott, president of the St. Thomas Township Volunteer Fire Department. No animals were injured in the fire, Mellott said. The farm, a large working dairy farm, is owned by Kenneth Myers in the 7000 block of Edenville-Cheesetown Road, Mellott said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Drought Advisory Committee will tour farms in the Martinsburg area Tuesday to assess damage caused by the recent drought. Agriculture Commissioner Gus R. Douglass organized the tour after Gov. Cecil Underwood declared an Agricultural State of Emergency on June 28. The drought came as a result of months of dry weather, said Bill Bissett, a spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. "We've had numerous complaints throughout the state about farmers having to truck water out to their farms to feed their livestock," he said.

By LAURA ERNDE Staff Writer SHADY GROVE, Pa. - A woman mowing her lawn was killed Saturday when a gust of wind blew a tree on top of her, Pennsylvania State Police said. Ruth Arlene Moyer, 53, of 12497 Gearhart Road, was on a riding lawn mower about 2:30 p.m. when the freak accident occurred, police said. Moyer died of multiple trauma, police said. Franklin County Coroner Kenneth L. Peiffer Jr. pronounced her dead at the scene at 3:40 p.m. Winds gusted throughout the day Saturday in the Tri-State area.

Clear Spring High School junior Erin Shank was crowned Washington County Farm Queen on Saturday at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center. The runner-up was Rhonda Uzelac, a senior at North Hagerstown High School. Shank and Uzelac were the only two entrants. Shank will represent the county at all agricultural-related events this year. She will also attend an agricultural convention in Ocean City, Md., in which her peers from across the state will meet to craft recommended legislation pertaining to agriculture in the state.

Fourth of July a time to reflect on America's strengths To the editor: There once was a man who had a dream to build a dairy farm. He started by buying just a few dairy cows, and after many years of hard work and wise business ventures, he and his family became very successful. His sons and daughters worked with him, they employed many others who needed jobs and all went well. Then one day, a very educated and intellectual young man came to the door of the farmhouse.