Salisbury Township, along Lancaster County’s eastern border, is home to the newest preserved farm in the county. On December 20, staff from Lancaster Farmland Trust (LFT) met at the Fisher family farm to sign paperwork and add their 72-acre farm to the growing list of preserved farms in Lancaster County.
Bisected by a small tributary to Pequea Creek, the Fisher farm is a traditional dairy with some supporting row crops. To manage their soil and waterway health, the Fisher’s employ conservation practices, such as conservation tillage or no-till, cover cropping, contour planting, secure manure storage, and a grassed waterway.
In addition, through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation which encourages the coupling of farmland preservation and conservation practices, the Fishers are receiving special funding to offset the cost of additional conservation practices they want to implement—including streambank fencing, a stream crossing, and a riparian buffer along their stream.
The Fisher farm is within a two-mile radius of four other preserved farms, totaling more than 264 acres of preserved land nearby. Adding these family farms creates a large, contiguous block of preserved land—helping protect the future of agriculture in Lancaster County.
