The farm owned by Joel Loch, a fourth-generation farmer, and his wife, Brenda, has undergone some big changes over the past five years.

In 2010, Loch approached the Lehigh County Conservation District and asked how to protect the water on his property.

Over the next five years, working together with various agencies, the Lochs completed multiple best management projects to improve the quality of soil and water on their land.

The couple were recently honored for all their efforts.

State and local officials visited their Weisenberg Township farm Sept. 1 to present the couple with the 2015 Clean Water Farm Award.

According to the conservation district, this honor is awarded annually to farmers who manage their daily farm operations in an environmentally conscious manner that helps protect Pennsylvania’s water quality.

This year, the Lochs were one of three farms in the state to receive the award from the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts.

The award was presented by Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission Executive Director Karl Brown and Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary for Water Management Kelly Heffner.

The Lochs operate a 65-head of dairy cows and poultry farm with 300 birds on 137.7 acres of cropland and nearly 20 acres of pasture.

Located along Mill Creek, a trout-stocked and migratory fishery, the creek is a tributary of Maiden Creek, the municipal water source for the city of Reading.

“Mr. Loch applied for funding for preservation,” said Bill McFadden of the conservation district. “When I first met him, one of his first comments to me was ‘How do I protect my stream?’”

Loch was particularly concerned about the condition of his heavy use area.

“We had a problem that our cows were making some of the pasture wetter than what it should have been, breaking it down,” Loch said. “We just asked questions about what we could do.”

The first project was to adopt a nutrient management plan determining the most effective places and times to apply manure.

The plan was also a necessary component in obtaining future assistance from the National Resource Conservation Service.

The list of best management practices installed on the farm include: a water control structure consisting of a stormwater basin, concrete drop box and underground outlets on the pasture; an animal walkway; stabilized stream crossings and stream bank fencing; a grassed waterway; and an animal heavy use area.

Public Director of the County Conservation District Mary Ellen Snyder discussed all the effort put into winning the award.

“The County Conservation District started in the agricultural community,” Snyder said. “The origin was helping farmers hold on to their soil and keep their creeks clean, which is important to everybody.

“A lot of water in the urban areas comes from the farm and a lot of people don’t realize that.”

This was the first time a Lehigh County Farm received the Clean Water Farm award since its inception in 1986.

“I knew about their farm being preserved and I was very excited about them receiving this award,” said Lehigh County Executive Tom Muller at the event. “They are one of only three in the state and that’s very special.”

The Lochs also received a proclamation from the state Senate from the office of state Sen. Pat Browne, R-16th.

Jeff Zehr from Lehigh County Farmland Preservation was especially excited to see the couple receive the award.

“I worked with them for many of years,” Zehr said. “The Loch farm is one of 261 farms and 221,415 acres of preserved farmland in Lehigh County, which means they have sold the development rights to the property. Another name for it is The Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements.

“They have agreed to keep it available forever for farming. The fact that they have done these conservation practices is wonderful because if we are going to invest money to preserve farmland, we want to make sure it’s protected, too. The Lochs are prime examples of the kind of landowners we love to have in our program.”

Snyder echoed his sentiment.

“This is a program that goes on all the time, but I think Joel outdid himself here,” Snyder said. “I hope it comes back to him tenfold.”

The Lochs say they never expected any accolades for their efforts.

“We’re not the people looking for recognition,” Joel Loch said. “We’re looking for a way to better our facilities here and make things better for ourselves as well as setting a good example.”

Brenda Loch commented on how their work is helping their dairy herd.

“Now we can rotate our animals and keep them out of the water,” Brenda Loch said. “We have better resources now.”

“It just so happened everything fell into place for us and we have other farmers now asking us questions,” Joel Loch said.

Conservation District Chairman Bill Erdman would like the success shown at the Lochs farm to encourage other farmers to consider similar improvements.

“We are kind of hoping his is a catalyst to help spread this throughout the area,” Erdman said. “We hope other farmers will say, ‘Hey, look what Joel and Brenda did with their farm.’”