Jodi Gauker
POTTSTOWN − Jodi Gauker has been named as the new executive director of Lundale Farm, effective January 16. Lundale Farm is a nonprofit sustainable farming community located in northern Chester County. The organization was founded by the children of the late State Representative Sam Morris and his wife Eleanor, who were visionaries and pioneers in the preservation of agricultural lands and historic landscapes.
“The Lundale Farm Board of Directors is thrilled that Jodi Gauker has joined the organization as Executive Director and will be leading it as we move forward,” said Eleanor Morris Illoway, President of Lundale Farm. “Her education, her work with the Chester County Economic Development Council and her experience as a farmer will be great assets as we work with the present farmers at Lundale and with other landowners who might invite small farmers onto their land.”
Gauker brings to Lundale an extensive background in agricultural education and leadership. She most recently served as the agriculture project manager for AgConnect for 4.5 years. At AgConnect, Chester County Economic Development Council’s agricultural partnership program, Gauker brought together businesses and nonprofit organizations across the region to find solutions for today’s farming challenges, managed a number of grants or grant dollars, and linked farmers and agribusiness owners with training, financing and other business resources to help their businesses grow.
Gauker also has hands-on experience running her own farming operation as the co-owner of Gauker Meats LLC, an 8th, 9th, and 10th generation family farm raising crops and Holstein steers in Berks County.
“I am truly looking forward to serving the Board and farmers of Lundale Farm, and stewarding the farm’s tradition of conservation and innovation,” Gauker said. “It is an honor to carry forward the Morris’ vision for sustainable agriculture as a driving force in local food production in Chester County.”
Gauker has a Bachelor of Science in Animal Sciences from Penn State University and a Master of Science in Agricultural Education from Texas A&M University.
Prior to 2015, Gauker volunteered extensively with the Pennsylvania 4-H program as an organizational leader for the Berks County Beef Club and Livestock Council. More recently, she serves as a board member for the Chester County Agricultural Development Council and the Berks County Planning Commission, and is a member of the Berks County Farm Bureau, Berks Agricultural Resource Network, and Berks Southeast Cattlemen Association.
Gauker succeeds Marilyn Anthony, who now advises and teaches at the Fox School of Business at Temple University.
Lundale Farm is a 520 acre property in northern Chester County. It leases land and housing to farmers committed to growing wholesome foods, using organic methods that enhance the health of the land and the community. It offers long-term land leases to a new generation of sustainable farmers. Not a farm incubator, Lundale is creating an enduring and dynamic community of farmers living and working on this land. Lundale’s goal is to demonstrate to others who own or manage land (including individual landowners, land trusts and municipalities) that conserved open space should be used to provided fresh, nutritious, locally grown foods to their communities while enhancing the biodiversity and health of the land.
