MOUNT CRAWFORD - The landscape is changing for Valley farmers like Ray Showalter in west Rockingham County.

Residential and commercial development is squeezing farmers into smaller areas as feed, fuel and equipment prices rise, they say.

That pressure's being compounded with growing environmental regulations and degrading water and soil quality in some areas.

But there's a unique twist to the story in the Valley.

At a conference on Tuesday, "Protecting Farmland, Protecting Water Quality," farmers, conservationists, lawmakers and developers discussed pooling resources to protect and preserve scenic Valley farmland - one acre at a time.

Residents spoke of forming a group to protect Rockingham County's farmland, and Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, said he's seeking more funding for conservation easements. The legal agreements forbid commercial development and aim to conserve natural or man-made resources.

That makes a difference for Showalter, who put his 117-acre farm into a conservation easement two years ago. The legal agreement allows him to retain ownership, but ensures the land will never be commercially developed, he said.

"[I] know my kids and grandchildren will have the opportunity to farm if they want to," Showalter said.

At the conference, Luke Brubaker, a dairy farmer from East Donegal, Pa., explained that conservation and agriculture thrive side by side on his 1,000-acre dairy agribusiness. Brubaker is also Pennsylvania's milk marketing commissioner.

Brubaker's farm is one of almost 1,000 farms in easements as part of Lancaster County's Farmland Preservation Program.

The program, developed 18 years ago to slow the loss of prime farmland to nonagricultural uses, enables state, county and local governments to buy development rights from farmers and forbid development, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Now, Brubaker says his farm is protected for his children and grandchildren.

Brubaker said he's also increased revenue through environmental practices such as creating surplus electricity from methane, which he sells to the area power grid.

"If I looked out my back window, I really feel like I have something left that's going to be good for my family in the future," Brubaker said to an applauding audience.

A group of Rockingham farmers hopes to create a similar farmland protection program in the Valley, they said at the event.

Currently, farmers like Showalter are independently putting land into conservation easements to protect the environment and preserve their farms.

"We care for the land for the next generation," Showalter said.

Kevin Craun, a farmer in Mount Crawford, said a group is forming to protect local farmland from encroaching development. The group also will call on the county to offer incentives for farming, money that's already being offered to new businesses eyeing the area, Craun said.

Forming a committee or group, he said, also would help farmers take part in discussions about development in the Valley and could bring funding to area programs.

For example, last summer Gov. Timothy M. Kaine distributed $4.2 million for preserving farmland through conservation easements. In spite of the importance of agriculture to Rockingham, the county didn't receive any of those funds.

That's because Valley farmers hadn't organized or applied for the grants, something that would change by forming a group, Craun said.

In the future, a farmland protection group could have a presence at county planning and development meetings, and call for promotion of agribusiness and farm education, he said.

"Farmers should be a part of the discussion," he said. "Rockingham County and the Shenandoah Valley have a lot to lose."