Federal agriculture investments a boon to Chester County

By Bill Gladden and Molly Parzen

Families have long been drawn to northern Chester County because of our rolling hills, picturesque farmland and rural way of life.

The French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust has dedicated nearly sixty years to preserving these aspects of our region. As the only land conservation organization solely focused on northern Chester County, we have worked with local townships, the state and private landowners to permanently preserve ecologically critical areas as open space, protect water quality and provide hiking and other recreational opportunities that attract visitors from across the Delaware Valley. Visiting these permanently preserved fields, forests, parks and preserves is often paired with a stop at locally owned restaurants and shops.

Conservation of these special places and the land to which they (and we) are all connected was given a major boost in 2022 by the Inflation Reduction Act. This landmark legislation included significant provisions to help our family farms adapt and thrive in the face of increasing challenges from our changing climate.

By authorizing nearly $20 billion over 10 years to fund “climate smart agriculture” initiatives, these entirely voluntary programs help farmers reduce the use of expensive fertilizer through the planting of cover crops, reduce erosion by fencing livestock our of sensitive (and dangerous) areas and help protect open space that is a critical part of our quality of life and that provides the foundation for our family farms.

In addition to helping the environment, these programs are vital to keep our farms and agricultural products competitive. By helping identify and fund ways to reduce long term costs and increase yields, they help make our farmers more competitive with producers across the globe. And they help preserve Chester County’s beautiful open spaces and protect our rivers and streams from pollution.

These programs have traditionally had long waiting lists, which means that landowners and land preservation trusts have had to wait years to move forward with important projects.

The Inflation Reduction Act is eliminating this backlog and driving needed resources right now into places like northern Chester County. The technical and financial assistance from the Act are key to managing increased pressure from development and a globalized agriculture industry that makes it harder for family-owned farms to compete and remain profitable.

While these climate smart agriculture programs are giving our watershed a needed shot in the arm, we need to preserve these funds from growing threats in Washington.

Negotiations are beginning to ramp up around a new federal farm bill, a mammoth bill that Congress passes every six years to set agricultural policy.

The farm bill touches critical portions of our food supply, from nutritional assistance to agricultural subsidies. It also helps set policies around land stewardship and agricultural conservation.

As part of these negotiations, some lawmakers are advocating for devastating cuts to programs that help our local farms.

These cuts wouldn’t just be bad for the environment. They would also hurt Chester County by limiting resources that we need to protect and preserve our water quality, help our family farms remain competitive, and contain sprawl and overdevelopment.

We know that now is the time to address increasing challenges presented by our growing population and changing climate. Fortunately the deep connections to the land throughout the region, a legacy of land preservation, and an incredibly hard working and diverse network of local family farms offers hope.

But we must not leave the hard work that lies ahead solely at the feet of our local family farms. We all benefit from their hard work and need to come together and provide support locally as well as nationally. It is imperative that the next farm bill not only continues, but expands investments in our rural communities to provide more of the resources we need to respond to the increasing challenge of producing the food and fiber we need as our population grows, more land is developed, all in the context of a changing climate.

Together, we can forge a bright future in which we head off a climate crisis even as we make our communities more environmentally sustainable and economically prosperous.

Bill Gladden is Executive Director of the French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust. Molly Parzen is Executive Director of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania.