750 acres of scenic pastureland preserved forever
Hanover Shoe Farms, the world-renowned Standardbred horse breeding company founded a century ago in Adams County, has been a supporter of the Land Conservancy since our inception. That support is meaningful, as those of us in the land preservation field know that the long-term vision and viability of businesses like Hanover Shoe Farms, R & L Orchards, and Peters Orchards, which share the distinguishment of owning over 2,000 acres each, is an essential part of maintaining the agricultural landscape of Adams County.
The success of those businesses has allowed us a sense of security regarding their particular holdings, while requiring a certain level of optimism that changed circumstances would not result in a sudden and dramatic degradation to some our most scenic landscapes. So when Hanover Shoe Farms approached the Adams County Agricultural Land Preservation Program about permanently preserving much of their land, it was a big deal, to say the least.
Most of what the company owns is prime farmland, having excellent soils that helped their applications to the county program rank above the others. Hundreds of acres have now been preserved, or are in the process of being preserved, through the county’s Agland Preservation Program, funded in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. There were two farms, however, that didn’t fare as well. Those two, known as the Hartlaub and Wilson farms, are somewhat removed from the home farm outside of Hanover. Located in Mount Pleasant Township just east of Bonneauville, yearlings are raised on the farms.
Ellen Dayhoff, manager of the county’s preservation program, approached the Land Conservancy about working to preserve the farms in Mount Pleasant Township. The prospect of preserving 750 acres of scenic pastureland along Route 116 East was a rare opportunity that we knew must be seized, but the funding challenge was formidable. With easement values totaling over $2 million, we could request half of that from the federal Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. But it was unlikely that we’d be able come up with the half-million dollars needed to secure the federal funds.
“I went out on a limb and asked Russell if he’d consider preserving the Hartlaub farm under a special category of the federal program that qualifies for additional funding,” Sarah Kipp explains. But there was a catch. To get more federal funds, the conservation easement would require that the land remain as pasture or hay – no other types of crops – in perpetuity. On top of that, the land must be managed in a way to promote grassland bird habitat. In this case, a portion of the property would be restricted from horses and mowing until midsummer, allowing young grassland birds that hatch in the spring enough time to fledge. But rather than seeing these restrictions as something to be reluctantly endured, Russell saw them as aligning with the company’s long-term vision for environmentally responsible horse rearing. “When we left the portions unmowed…the state of the forage was much better, so we’re getting to rest some of the land, which is what we always want to do, but sometimes circumstances don’t permit it.”
By agreeing to permanently protect grasslands on the Hartlaub farm, the local funding requirement was reduced to $260,000. We made a special request to the Adams County Green Space Grant Program, and with the support of the county commissioners, they agreed to fund the project!
Russelll Williams, president and CEO of the company, spoke at an event in July celebrating the several properties that have been preserved so far with the county and the Land Conservancy. “My decision to do these was not a U-turn in the history of Hanover Shoe Farms by any means. The partners that were here before, the management that was here before, was not anti-preservation at all. Jim Simpson, my predecessor, he was president of the farm for about 20 years, and among many good things he did long-term for the farm, he left us in extraordinarily good financial shape. It’s not easy for horse farms to be in good financial shape, that’s why they rarely last a hundred years. But it looks like we’ll make it. Three more years and we’ll be a hundred years old. So this decision was part of the story of the farm. It was time to do it. I’ve had a role here, but it was just a role in a larger drama that I hope will go on indefinitely.”
