Dan Sullivan

1 week ago | lancasterfarming.com | Dan Sullivan

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to make an offer on a piece of land adjacent to my property before it went on the market. The real estate agent informed me the deal would be contingent upon a successful perc test. A what? I learned that a perc — short for percolation — test is a soil test performed before installation of a septic system. It measures the level of liquid absorption, verifying that the soil can adequately drain and filter wastewater debris.

2 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Dan Sullivan

Pennsylvania farmers are taking advantage of a new state conservation program that provides technical and financial assistance for projects that protect the environment. Established in 2022, the Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program helps with manure containment, fencing and other practices that safeguard natural resources. ACAP funding is often paired with other government cost-share programs such as USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

2 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Dan Sullivan

To Benjamin Barnett, local delivery is an ideal way to get small farms’ beef to consumers and institutions. Barnett’s company, Family Farm Direct, aggregates meat from his farm and other local producers to provide the volumes that hospitals and schools require. Barnett, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, launched the business in November. Barnett said he pays farmers as much as he can for the meat, and producers don’t have to sell exclusively to him.

3 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Dan Sullivan

Pennsylvania is the birthplace of the conservation movement, according to the author of a new book. Allen Dieterich-Ward published “Cradle of Conservation: An Environmental History of Pennsylvania” late last year and discussed it with Lancaster Farming ahead of Earth Day, which is April 22. Dieterich-Ward is a history professor and the director of Shippensburg University’s graduate school.

3 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Dan Sullivan

My friend Stacy is an herbal healer, a wise woman of the woods. While visiting her 6-acre Berks County farmette recently, sneezing like mad and scratching my eyes due to combined pollen and cat allergies, she mentioned a chickweed compress she used to make for her son, now a Philadelphia-based communications professional.