Butler County Farm Bureau members received an update during its annual spring meeting on agricultural issues from state, county and bureau officials and learned about the history of agriculture in the county.

Speaking to about 200 farmers and their families at the Thursday meeting, Butler County Commissioner Kimberly Geyer said the county has more than $1 million to spend on farmland preservation this year, and six farms are going through the process to enroll in the program.

“We have $1.2 million to spend in 2022,” Geyer said.

The state allocated $956,623 to the county, and the county added $177,518 in matching funds and used a federal reimbursement to bring the total to $1.2 million, she explained.

To date, more than 7,000 acres on 66 farms in the county have been enrolled in the farmland preservation program, she said.

“We’re very proud of that,” Geyer said.

Farmers who are in the program can receive free signs declaring their participation, she said.

A design and colors for the signs are being developed. Farmers in the program can decide whether or not to have a sign, she said.

When completed, the signs will be given to farmers, who have to erect the signs themselves. Geyer said it will be up to each farmer to decide how to post their sign to represent their farm.

State Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, encouraged attendees to contact Sen. Elder Vogel, R-47th, to express support for a bill that would allow whole milk to be served in schools. The House recently passed the bill.

William Thiele, bureau government director and state board member, said he attended the American Farm Bureau Convention in Atlanta, Ga., in January.

As a member of the state board, Thiele said he represents the district that includes Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer counties, and, at 28 years old, is the youngest member of the board.

He said he brings issues from the district to the state board, and has been learning a lot during his tenure.

Larry Voll, county bureau president, and Jim Boldy, membership chairperson, gave a membership update.

Boldy said the county has 1,104 members. New bureau rules mean all types of members, including social members, are now being counted together.

Voll said families are counted as one member, and family members under 19 years old are counted as members of their families. Family members 19 and older can become individual members and qualify to receive bureau insurance, he said.

A prescription medication discount is the latest benefit available to bureau members, said Lance Medich, Regional Organization Director of Regional 5. It costs $27 for families and $18 for individuals. The program covers 600 free medications and is accepted by most major pharmacies. Among the discounts is insulin at a cost of $19, he said.

The guest speaker was local historian Bill May, who provided a glimpse into the history of several prominent people and places in the county.

May spent some time talking and showing photos of the old Clearview Farm, which was an award-winning Jersey cow farm before the property was sold and replaced by the Clearview Mall in 1981.

Farm owner John Campbell, who lived on North Main Street in Butler, started the farm, which included an orchard, in 1892, May said. Campbell became a master farmer and won national awards for the Jersey cows he raised, he said.

Campbell passed the farm to his son John Campbell Jr., who was married to Gertrude Troutman, whose father founded Troutman’s Department Store. After they died, the property was sold to developer George Zamias, who built the mall.

May also said the old Nixon Hotel in downtown Butler might have been the first restaurant to adopt the farm-to-table concept. He said the Nixon family had a farm near what is now the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport that provided the food served in the hotel restaurant.

The meeting began with a moment of silence for the late Harold Foertsch Sr., a member of the county farm bureau board, who recently died.