This farm is so beautiful, we made it our banner.
It is an excellent illustration of how good stewardship, scenic beauty and working agriculture can co-exist. Powell’s Valley itself, with its rolling hills and intermittent woodlands, is a picture of rural agricultural beauty. The Laudenslager farm epitomizes this, as it offers an open vista and scenic blending with Peter’s mountain behind it, as well as being a state-of-the-art working farm, where no-till farming has been the norm since the 1970’s and the yields are some of the best in Dauphin County. Powell’s Creek runs through this property, and a riparian buffer is protected along it. Murray and Rhonda Laudenslager have already collaborated in a project to allow handicapped fishing access on their portion of Powell’s Creek. The conservation easement they placed on this property at the end of 2007 will protect this land for farming in perpetuity and will ensure that it is stewarded well.
The farm has been in the family for five generations, and the Laudenslagers’ decision to protect it for the future shows thoughtful foresight, as it is one of the few farms to be protected in the immediate area, and development pressure is beginning to be felt. Wayne Township, near Halifax, currently has no zoning. The Manada Conservancy is very proud to have been able to facilitate the protection of this farm and the agriculture it supports.
Protecting farmland for the future: Amber holds the sign
Looking north from the base of Peter's mountain at the south end of the farm
Powell's Creek on the Laudenslager Farm
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