Mervin Raudabaugh sold development rights to a land trust for under $2 million instead of selling to developers.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — An 86-year-old Cumberland County farmer says preserving his land was the right choice, even after turning down more than $15 million from data center developers.
Mervin Raudabaugh, who has farmed in Silver Spring Township for more than six decades, said the offer came as part of a package deal involving three neighboring property owners.
Raudabaugh was offered $60,000 per acre by the developers for his 261 acres to build a data center on his property, but he said preserving his land and family legacy was more important.
“I was not interested in destroying my farms,” Raudabaugh said. “That was the bottom line. It really wasn’t so much the economic end of it. I just didn’t want to see these two farms destroyed.”
Raudabaugh instead sold development rights to his farm in December for just under $2 million to the Lancaster Farmland Trust, which guarantees that his land will never be used for any other purpose.
The land is part of more than 1,300 acres of creek frontage, an area rich in both beauty and wildlife.
“You won’t find that anywhere else,” Raudabaugh said. “You’d have to look awfully hard to find that much good land. It’s a mecca for wildlife, and everything from deer to turtles.”
The future of similar farmlands has come into question with the rise of data centers. Raudabaugh expressed his concern for the wildlife and traffic patterns in Silver Spring Township when the nearby data center in Middlesex Township is constructed.
He also expressed concern over the cost of land that data centers are driving up, and with farm retention rates dropping and equipment becoming more expensive, he wonders about the future of family farms who are not in a position to turn down the money that he did.
“It breaks my heart to think of what’s going to take place here, because only the land that’s preserved here is going to be here,” Raudabaugh said. “The rest of every square inch is going to get built on. The American farm family is definitely in trouble.”
What is not in trouble is his own land, now set to be untouched by development, preserving the home and land on which he raised his four children and built a life based on farming and family.
“It was my life,” Raudabaugh said. “This is a special situation here with my family. Friends of mine here are very happy with what I’ve done, because they know that the building will be within their eye view and will be beautiful for quite a while.”