On farm or in office, New Holland native has led career serving agriculture in Lancaster [Q&A]

As a former family farmer and now a banker, Dale Hershey is in a special position to understand the economic and family pressures on Lancaster County's farmers and to also provide guidance and relief.

On Nov. 21 his years of dedication to all those areas will be formally honored as the 61-year-old receives the George C. Delp Award at Lancaster Chamber's Agriculture Industry Banquet at the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton in West Lampeter Township.

The George C. Delp Award is presented to an individual or business that exemplifies an outstanding dedication, significant contribution to the agriculture community, and commitment to preserving and enhancing agriculture in Lancaster County.

Born into a dairy farming family south of New Holland, Hershey later began his career farming on his own for 10 years, and spent the next seven in the milk industry with the Mount Joy Farmers Co-operative Association before moving into the banking side of things at Univest Bank.

Univest opened its first Lancaster County office in 2016, expanding west from its roots in Souderton, Bucks County.

"Years ago Souderton looked like what Lancaster looks like now," Hershey said. "It was a farm community. They lost farmland down there. There is no farmling left there. It's built up. It's industrial. It's housing. I see so much of that happening in Lancaster."

Hershey is Univest's Lancaster-based executive vice president and director for agricultural lending, a role that allows him to aid farmers and farmland.

"That's part of why people come here when you think about tourism in Lancaster County," he said. "That tourism thing, it can go away. We could be at risk of losing that."

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The following conversation had been edited for length and clarity.

There is little industrial zoned land in Lancaster County and so there is pressure to turn agricultural land, which fetches high prices, to other uses. What is the way forward for the agricultural community to thrive despite development pressure?

It's very difficult because of the farmland here in the county for farmers to buy it and try to make the land cash flow to be successful. When you pay $2 million or $3 million for a farm, not enough income can be generated off that farm to justify that kind of a price, especially if it's a small dairy farm. ... It's why farmers in this area are very diversified. They get into some high-dollar cash crops. Tobacco. Maybe a sideline business of chickens, some kind of produce stand.

As farmers are getting older there is an ongoing concern about how the next generation can step up into farming. What has been your experience helping families navigate that?

Unfortunately if the dad is going to charge the son what he could get for the farm at a public auction, it's not going to work for the son. So there has to be a little bit of give and take for both parties. The dad has to want to see the farm continue to the next generation or it's probably not going to happen. That's where we'll help put deals together.

What does it mean to you to receive the Delp award?

I am very appreciative and humbled by it. The people that have made me into what I am as far as a leader within the county with agriculture and what I do, the committees I serve on, to be recognized...I appreciate it very much.

LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Lisa Scheid contributed to this story.