News Release

PACD Announces Chesapeake Bay
Clean Water Farm Award Recipients

Three farms have been selected in three different regions to receive a 2003 Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Farm Award. This award, initiated in 1986, recognizes farmers within the Chesapeake Bay watershed who strive to protect local water quality. This year's awards will be given to Ed Heagy and Sons of Annville, PA; Mark and Clifton McMurray of BRAD-PENN Farms in Canton, PA; and Alvin Shaffer of Shaffer Productions in Dalmatia, PA.

These farms will be recognized during the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. (PACD) Annual Conservation Awards Program scheduled for July 21, 2003 at the Ramada Inn, Altoona, PA. In addition to a plaque, the award recipients will receive a large "Clean Water Farm Award" sign to erect on their property, advertising their commitment to protecting water quality.

The recipients in the first region, Ed Heagy and Sons, operate a dairy and crop farm in Lebanon County. The Heagys have a herd of 160 dairy cows and farm 305 acres, on which they grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa and rye. Reducing soil erosion on those fields is an important way to protect water quality. The Heagys accomplish this by implementing a soil and water conservation plan that involves cover cropping, minimum tillage and some no-till farming, contour strip-cropping, and crop rotation. The Heagys are going beyond what is required by law to improve water quality.

Edward and Geraldine Heagy (center) accept the 2003 Clean Water Farm Award for region 1 from PACD Executive Director Susan Fox Marquart (left) and PACD President Ron Rohall (right).

Mark & Clifton McMurray, who own and operate the BRAD-PENN Farms in Bradford County, are the region 2 recipients. The dairy of 80 cows, 55 heifers and calves and a small 60 head veal calf operation sits on 330 acres. The McMurrays implement several best management practices to minimize the effects of farming on water quality. They installed stream bank fencing, an important clean water measure, on over 2.4 acres. The McMurrays also planted trees as a valuable riparian area, installed a manure storage facility, created surface water control around the barn and barnyard area and constructed 2,200 feet of diversions to control surface runoff from their fields. In taking these measures, the McMurray family has proven to be good clean water stewards.

Finally, Alvin Shaffer of Shaffer Productions will receive a Clean Water Farm Award for region 3. The Shaffer's have 366 acres of owned and 618 acres of rented cropland. Realizing it was within their power to positively address their land use issues, Shaffer Productions began to install best management practices on their owned and rented land. They have installed 20 acres of grassed waterways and 6,700 feet of diversions for surface water control. They also practice strip-cropping and contour farming on the majority of their land. Taking these measures helps to protect water quality and prevent potential pollutants from entering streams and groundwater supplies.

Alvin Shaffer (center) accepts the 2003 Clean Water Farm Award for region 3 from PACD Executive Director Susan Fox Marquart and PACD President Ron Rohall.

In Pennsylvania, more than half of the state's 67 counties are located within the Susquehanna River Drainage Basin. Waterways within the drainage basin serve as a lifeline to the Chesapeake Bay by providing nearly half of its fresh water. Sound agricultural practices, such as those maintained by this year's Clean Water Farm Award recipients, are critical to insuring that clean water enters the Bay.

Recipients of the annual Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Farm Award are nominated by county conservation district staff. The Clean Water Farm Award Program is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Education Office (administered by the PACD, a private, nonprofit organization representing Pennsylvania's 66 county conservation districts.) The PA Chesapeake Bay Education Office conducts numerous activities promoting the theme, "We All Live Downstream." For more information, visit the PACD website at http://www.pacd.org/about/award_progr.htm.

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