It was not hard for me to become interested in the future of Lucketts and surrounding Loudoun , for rapid changes were occurring with the development of Sterling in the east and the ongoing development around Dulles Airport . In the 1940s and early 1950s , prior to the later development around Dulles Airport , Loudoun County was the number one milk producing county in the entire Commonwealth of Virginia . Today , only one family remains commercially shipping bulk tank milk for processing , although a number of smaller raw milk and goat and sheep cheese dairies have sprung up .
The loss of smaller farms across Loudoun and the country as a whole has been a continuing and troubling trend for decades . Today , to survive in agriculture and avoid selling land to accommodate family interests and economics , farm families are often forced to consolidate or grow larger through expansion . Land acquisition becomes extremely difficult when you have to compete against large development interests .
Development not only drives up the price of land , but it becomes difficult , if not impossible , to farm around new homes and neighbors who are not accustomed to the nuisances of farming and who do not appreciate following large farm equipment on back roads . Nevertheless , agriculture remains the backbone for rural communities to retain the open spaces and beautiful countryside that most people enjoy .
As someone who has spent his entire life working the land with 4-H projects growing strawberries and vegetables , raising dairy heifers , milking cows at 5 a . m . before going to school , working professionally for the dairy industry , and now pasturing weaned calves with a neighbor in a rotational grazing system — I have really come to understand and appreciate the important contributions that productive soil and agriculture make to keep this country fed and prosperous .
However , an abundant and reliable source of food is not possible without good productive fertile soil . So much of nature — think bees — and all that surround and support human existence depends on productive soil that is biologically alive and well ( prime agricultural soil )! In this regard , western Loudoun is blessed with some of the most fertile , prime agricultural soil on the East Coast . As showcased during this COVID pandemic , access to an abundant , fresh , locally grown food supply has been extremely important for many Loudoun households .
As much of California and the Southwest experience devastating drought with no future abatement in sight , more food production will move to those areas with more favorable rainfall and climate , including the Mid-Atlantic states . Loudoun County is critically located with favorable growing conditions to provide an abundant local food supply not only to Loudoun residents , but to a growing population in the Washington metropolitan area .
Securing an abundant source of local food , however , will not be possible unless there is adequate productive farmland for a viable farming community to farm . As the adage goes : farmland lost is farmland lost forever ! The alternative is more suburban sprawl .
The continuing dilemma and challenge is how to preserve the remaining farmland , natural beauty , open spaces , forests , view sheds , villages and history in the Rural Policy Area ( RPA ) which includes all of western Loudoun . The question becomes how to encourage land owners , who want or need to sell their land , not to sell for development purposes .
Fortunately , there are some valuable land use planning tools that county and local governments can fund and implement to provide incentives that serve to preserve all the good things that we now enjoy about rural Loudoun — open farmland , wineries , breweries , farm produce stands , entertainment venues , etc . County government officials , however , must want to support and administer public land use initiatives such as Purchase of Development Rights ( PDR ’ s ) with effective private land use programs such as conservation easements .
I believe these two options can work hand-inglove , so to speak , to place more privately owned land in permanent conservation easements while utilizing
It ’ s feed time and John leads his cattle to the trough .
wander I FALL • winter 2022 5