CRANBERRY TWP — Andy Hack, the 90-year-old longtime resident of the township, still remembers which farm was located where back when the township was a small agricultural community.

Only a handful of those farms survive today within the township, which has changed dramatically over the last few years. One of those survivors is Powell Farm, previously owned by Hack’s lifelong friend Denton Powell.

After Powell’s death in 2021, Hack wanted to stay true to his friend’s wish of safeguarding the property as a farm, and approached the township with that goal in mind. In 2023, the township moved to acquire the 150-year-old, 71-acre farm.

Around three years later, on a brisk Thursday morning, township officials gathered at the farm on Goehring Road, joined by many other high profile attendees, to announce the master plan for the project.

Attendees included county commissioners, state senators and representatives, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and representatives from the offices of Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa.

The forum began with remarks from Dan Santoro, township manager, and Bruce Hezlep, chairman of the township board of supervisors, as well as Bruce Mazzoni and Amy Smith, Cranberry Foundation leaders.

The master plan was subsequently presented by Jim Feath, a landscape architect and Cranberry Conservancy member, and Noah Petronic, farm manager.

The event concluded with the planting of ceremonial apple trees.

The core of the township’s vision for the property — led by the efforts of the Cranberry Conservancy — is to preserve the farmland, and make it an operational monument to the agricultural history of the township.

The three foundation stones, Feath said, are: commercial agricultural production, conservation and restoration, and sustainable infrastructure systems.

A significant part of the planned production is fruit orchards, as well as berry fields, annual flowers, and a variety of rotational crops. The plan involves improving the infrastructure of the land, and updating the tools used, said Feath.

A high tunnel on the greenhouse is also planned to extend growing season and potential, as is a bank barn for improved storage capacity. The township also intends to invest in renovations and upgrades to the irrigation system, according to Feath.

Feath said there will be a “multi-approach system” for irrigation, which involves creating a filter to use water from an existing on-site pond, and taking advantages of the resources on the property.

Storage is often a hurdle that gets in the way of variety in apples; Petronic said that planned work on storage at the farm will allow Powell Farm to avoid that issue.

The first apple variety planted on the fields is a newer one, said Petronic, called Scarlet Haze. Powell Farm is one of the first farms in Western Pennsylvania to plant the variety. Six thousand strawberry plants have also already been planted.

“Some of the fruit trees have already been put in the ground,” said Feath. “We’re going to continue to expand.”

Since Petronic last spoke with the Butler Eagle in August, 2025, the farm crew has put up a deer fence, with 42 acres fenced in. Petronic and his team have also acquired “a whole slew of equipment” over that time.

Most of the progress has been in planning and establishing the orchards. The first orchard is almost 2 acres long.

Grant writing, office work and government meetings is no less a part of the work that’s to come than the work over winter, though Petronic said he prefers the field work outdoors.

“It was a long winter for all of us,” said Petronic. “Not being out pruning like I usually would — it was a lot of computer sitting and just watching the snowfalls — it got to me after a while.”

But the experience in general has been good so far, Petronic said.

“All’s been smooth, and within reason, [the township] gives me free reign to do what I need to do to get the job done,” he said.

The next few months entail maintaining what’s been set up, from the trails to the orchards.

The crew will start plowing next week, and start planting Sorghum × drummondii grass and sunflower fields, also to add more organic matter back into the ground, “so that we can get ready to plant next year, the year after that, and so on,” said Petronic.

Also vital is preparing for the summer season by improving the irrigation on the farm.

Petronic said the master plan is roughly a 10- to 20-year plan. Petronic aims to have the infrastructure set up in the coming two to three years, and the main orchards established within five to 10 years.

The vegetable side of planting is currently a low priority, and Petronic said his team plans to install coolers, wash bays and a food safety plan before proceeding.

Santoro calls Powell Farm “an agricultural oasis in the middle of the township,” according to Hezlep.

“This might be my favorite place in Cranberry Township,” said Hezlep. “How often do you find the quietness of what exists in this precious space?”

Before presenting the plan, Feath asked the crowd of attendees why the property is important. Answers ranged from “preserving farmland,” to “opportunities to educate the youth,” to “connection.”

“This place is important because it is a survivor,” said Feath, referring to the dwindling number of farms within the area. “It is the living legacy that we’re going to provide for our grandkids.”

Petronic said that government-run farms used to be more common than they are now, to help feed the community.

“Things couldn’t get trucked around the United States quite as much,” said Petronic. While that has changed, he said it is valuable to have some of the produce consumed be locally grown.

“I would really like to be more involved with the food banks, and underserved communities who could really use it,” Petronic said.

Also important is the education side of it, and introducing younger students to new types of opportunities, said Sean McCarty, Seneca Valley’s deputy superintendent for secondary education.

Powell Farm is the perfect way of doing that, he said.

Petronic said that there is an educational gap about agriculture between the generations, which he hopes Powell Farm will address by, at some point, opening the gates for students to come in and experiment.

“Anything like this, where kids are literally showing up at a place — they're actually digging in the dirt — is so powerful for kids, because it connects what happens in the classroom to the real world,” said McCarty.

Similarly, the farm is intended to be open for general public in the future, so they can learn more about local and modern agriculture.

“Some of the stuff that [Noah] is laying for the future of this property is just incredibly exciting for me,” said Feath.

“I’m really proud of what they’re doing, and I know Denton would be pleased too, that it’s not a housing development, that it’s a farm,” Hack said. “I’m glad I could live long enough to see it.”