Relevant

Keeping Lancaster County agriculture competitive in the global marketplace has been the goal of the Lancaster County Agriculture Council and its partners since its inception. The legacy of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Agriculture looms large as we think together about how to increase the scale of agriculture and still be responsible with our environmental responsibilities.

This program brings together nationally-know experts to share their experience but, more importantly, to comment on examples of digester operations that are in operation, under construction, and being planned in Lancaster County. Real cases with commentary by the experts will be the way that we learn together during this event.

Ultimately, we seek to improve the competitiveness of agriculture in the region, the quality of life in the County, and the return on investment to the farmer, the technology provider, and the community. We do this with an eye to practical solutions that will help us improve the failure rate of digesters by solving some of the infrastructure issues around connecting to the power grid and dealing with wastewater.

Registration materials will follow shortly. For more information on being an exhibitor, contact Gary Willier at the Lancaster County Agriculture Council, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 717-735-0333.

Hershey: Earlier this month, the Chesapeake Bay Funders' Network gathered ag-related environmental researchers and practitioners from around the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern US to share best practice examples and, more importantly, to visit project in Lancaster and surrounding counties that illustrate this good work on the ground.

A highlight of the Forum was a visit to the Walter Augsberger farm in West Cocalico Township in northeastern Lancaster County.  The Laurel Ridge Pig Farm is a farrow-to-wean hog facility on 225 acres where they manage 1,400 sows bearning 34,000 piglets per year and generate more than 15,000 gallons of waste daily.  The anerobic digester which was deployed by Green Harvest One (GH1), a subsidiary of Epcot-Crenshaw of West Chester, PA.  The system can manage up to 50,000 of animal waste per day, generate both heat and electricity for the Farm, and will, in the near future, export electricity to the local grid.