Letter to the Editor 2/7/2012
Saving the family farm
EDITOR: It has been a little over three years since Bradford County started hosting the natural gas industries every want and needs. Taking a ride through our rural country side and you will find signs sprinkled in front of family farms stating that they are Century Farms. Living on a farm my whole life, I know we rise with the sun and rest our weary bones when the sunset, providing that all of our field work is done. A farmer seems to get by no matter what the price of milk. We just make do with what we have. To me what defines a successful farmer is his/her management skills and determination. Mix that with a little bit of luck and you will be shaking the hands of someone who must love his family, land and takes pride in what he does for a living, it certainly is not for the money.
Now, that the natural gas industry has embedded itself into the heart of Bradford County bringing promise and hope for our aging farmers, I have to wonder will this type of energy industry really save our family farms? Our county commissioner, Doug McLinko has been touting throughout Bradford County and other parts of the country that the energy industry will save the family farm.
Is he making reference to the large amount of money we made when most farmers signed their leases? If I recall, the majority of the leases were signed around 2006 if not before, providing little "upfront" money and agreeing to basic terms allowing no protection in development, producing, or deduction of cost. Perhaps farmers are making money on the activity above ground (well pads, access roads, pipelines, impoundment ponds, compressors, meter station, etc.) but does it offset the loss of agriculture use for years to come? It is now January 2012, how many gas wells have been drilled in the county and are still not hooked up to a pipeline? How many farmers are receiving royalty checks on all of their property?
Many farmers are waiting for the hope and promise that they will become rich as soon as the well is hooked up to the pipeline, but because of our old leases that were signed, usually you will find the gas companies don't have to pay royalties on your entire property, you may be paying double production cost before receiving royalties, and you may be waiting a long time before you receive any royalties if your lease doesn't provide a time frame on when the gas produced must go to market.
It is rightfully so, farmers do deserve a right to retire from farming without selling their family farm and home. I don't know if this gas industry will provide that luxury. I have seen many farms become inactive (non-producing) voluntarily and some were forced to go out of business once the natural gas activity occurred in their area.
My concern is, should a farmer decide to stay into or get out of farming, will be determined by the natural gas Industry, not by the agriculture industry
I know that the land must produce enough money to sustain itself, but will it generate enough to sustain and offset the cost of the gas industry? Remember there are no guarantees with the natural gas industry. No one knows how long you will receive a royalty check, or how much you will receive each month. There have been farms that have lost their water. The water is not fit for human or animal consumption. The farm that once was prime marketable farmland becomes worthless.
A family farm is a farm owned and operated by a family, and often passed down from generation to generation. It is the basic unit of the mostly agricultural economy of much of human history and continues to be so in developing nations. Because of the uncertainty that accompanies the natural gas industry, I feel that it would be irrational for a Bradford County commissioner to tout that the energy industry will save the family farms. And I don't believe a politician has the right to tell anyone, even a farmer what he/she can do with their property. It is unacceptable for a politician to mislead the public due to uncertainties!
Carol French
Sheshequin Township