The Yoder and Prigel families have worked for generations on adjoining dairy farms in northern Baltimore County, their cows sometimes grazing in each other's fields.
Now, except for arguments made in legal proceedings, these Long Green neighbors are barely speaking, and the wrangling is taking a financial toll.
"When I started this, I budgeted about $500 for legal fees," Bobby Prigel said. "I have spent well over $100,000."
Their conflict centers on the creamery that Prigel has built - but has yet to open - at his Bellevale Farm and his plans to sell organic products made from the milk his cows produce. The Yoders and several other Long Green residents insist that a commercial enterprise has no place in a valley where numerous farms, including those of the Yoders and Prigels, are permanently safeguarded from development through state and county preservation programs.
"You look out and see an industrial milk plant in the middle of all this preserved land," Sue Yoder said. "This is no different than having Cloverland sitting in a rural area. Preservation is all about saving land for the future. With this operation, we are losing farm ground to a business."
Prigel countered that his entire farm is productive and that the quarter-acre the creamery occupies "will probably be the most productive on the whole 260-acre farm."
A county zoning administrator has twice upheld Prigel's right to operate the business, but those decisions are on hold, pending an appeal of the zoning ruling. In addition, creamery opponents have sued the state's preservation program.
"It is hard to imagine a negative impact stemming from the operation of a family-run organic dairy farm in the center of many acres of farmland owned by that same family," Thomas Bostwick, the county's deputy zoning commissioner, wrote in his ruling.
The County Council has scheduled a public hearing next month on the county Planning Board's recommendation that the law be changed to allow creameries in a rural conservation zone.
Several council members said they are withholding comment until they have heard both sides of an issue that pits the interests of land preservation against those of agricultural diversity.
Yoder argues for tradition and maintaining the sweeping views of the valley near Loch Raven Reservoir.
"There is no sense to build something this size here," she said.
Prigel said he must adapt to the market to stay profitable.
