Lower Mount Bethel Township
2004 Hutchison Avenue / Martins Creek, Pa 18063 / 610-252-5074
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Lower Mt Bethel
Macungie News
The Lower Mount Bethel Township Board of Supervisors will hold their monthly meeting on Monday, June 2, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in-person at the Centerfield Building.

Please click HERE to view the agenda.

Dear Township residents the Spring newsletter was incorrect. Please see the correct information below. GREETINGS FROM THE REC BOARD! Thank you to the Rec Board, our wonderful volunteers, and our community for celebrating our 5th Annual Community Day last June. This year, we are excited to hold Community Day with our Fire Company at their May Day Firefighter Picnic and Raffle. We will have arts and crafts, vendors, treats, our famous cake walk, and an epic tricky tray! If you’d like to donate a baked good for the cake walk or sponsor a basket for the Tricky Tray, please contact Melissa in the Township Office. Please mark your calendars for our upcoming events: 6th Annual Community Day - Saturday, May 10th from 1pm – 5pm at the Riverton Ballfield Fall Mum Sale and Farmer’s Market - Saturday, September 13th, from 9am – 1pm at Centerfield. The Rec Board will have an assortment of Mums for sale. We will also be joined by local businesses selling a variety of items! Annual Christmas Tree Lighting - There will be holiday crafts, hot cocoa, and Santa at this year’s Tree Lighting! Located in the Village of Martins Creek on December 6th from 6pm – 7:30pm We are always looking for volunteers to help at our events and there are still 2 seats open on the Rec Board. If you would like to be considered, you must live in the Township and submit a letter of interest to Melissa at the Township Office. Thank you so much for your support! Warmly, Nicole Palmeri Chair of the Rec Board
Despite dry conditions, Kiefer reaps top corn contest award May 09, 2025 By Andy Andrews BANGOR, Pa. — Champion corn grower Brad Kiefer wants it to be known that he’s “not much of a guinea pig to try new things,” he said. Kiefer and his enterprising crop family on Willowbrook Farms took home first place in the annual Pennsylvania Corn Growers Association Five-Acre Corn Club contest for the 2024 season. Where exactly does Kiefer get his information and recommendations? “I basically leave it up to the sales rep to guide me in the right direction, for which ones he thinks would be a good number to put into the plot,” Kiefer said. Sales representative Justin Johnson, direct seed marketing for DEKALB and Asgrow at Bayer U.S., recommended the DEKALB 68-34 variety. It yielded 316.25 bushels per acre in the contest, best in the state. Kiefer farms in four different townships in Northampton County, Pennsylvania: Lower Mount Bethel, Forks, Plainfield and Upper Mount Bethel. The farmstead, now in its eighth generation, is located in Lower Mount Bethel Township, near the town of Bangor. Harvested For Grain The farm is on a soybean/ryegrass/corn rotation. The crop is harvested for grain and sold to various elevators, but mostly to Albright’s Mill LLC in Kempton, Pa. Kiefer points out some specialty tillage. “We do some minimal till with the Pottinger TERRADISC (a one-pass disc harrow) and maybe 300 acres of strictly no-till,” he said. Total corn acreage is 1,400. The farm owns 1,800 acres and rents 900 acres. Minimal till acres numbers 500 and no-till is roughly 300 acres. “Between the corn and beans, I try to make it as real as possible,” Kiefer said. “I don’t have any extra programs. I put it on a different farm every year. It’s not like I have one special field that always produces. A field about six miles from home can be the winning field this year.” The 2024 champion five-acre plot was planted in Lower Mount Bethel Township. Kiefer consults with agronomist John Stutzman, Stutzman Crop Care Inc., in Kutztown, Pa. “He advises me as to what direction to go,” Kiefer said. The farm soil tests on a regular basis. Fertilization includes commercial brands and “some newer productions,” Kiefer said. He also uses Xyway, a fungicide. “We carry zero crop insurance,” Kiefer said. “I am spraying all my corn. I plant all my corn as SmartStax seed to prevent fungus and disease.” Herbicides are used to control the most common weeds such as johnsongrass, marestail and giant foxtail. Water hemp, a pigweed, shows up as well. Varies Every Year A regular chemical spray program “varies every year, depending on what it looks like when we scout the crops,” Kiefer said. A cover crop of wheat, barley and rye is planted on about 1,500 acres every year. Challenges remain for the Kiefer family with the rocky, clay-type soil. “Our roads are river decks, with road names like Gravel Hill,” he said. “We have river-bottom soils loaded with stone and a lot of rocks. On the hill there is shale. There is limestone ground in Forks Township.” The last growing season was relentlessly dry. “It was super dry,” Kiefer said. “But the plot was the highest yield out of all divisions. It was not irrigated. We might have caught a slight shower, but we didn’t have anything significant for rains last year.” Kiefer may attribute it to good fortune and some moisture at the right stage. “We caught some rain just in the nick of time, when the crop was going through the pollination stage,” he said. Kiefer enters the National Corn Growers Association annual yield contest on a regular basis. “I do strip till, minimum till and conventional till entries,” Kiefer said. “It’s surprising to produce the yields that we get out of it. I try to keep it on a realistic basis. I don’t do anything crazy or extra out-of-the-ordinary, and try and succeed on all the acres as best as we can. Some guys are a lot more diehard into the corn grower contest. They have special fields every year. They apply all the chicken manure they can get: whatever manure they can put on it.” Bar Higher For this season, in Brad’s assessment, the bar is set higher for production. Kiefer has selected a 100-acre field in Upper Mount Bethel Township for the 2025 contest Kiefer noted the idea at harvest is to “find the sweetspot in the field,” he said. “Start making some passes through. If you hit the sweet spot, get the certified agronomist out there and get the trucks weighed in.” Contest participants are required to schedule a certified agronomist to do the check to verify yield accuracy. “You cannot do your own check,” Kiefer said. The yield check can vary from the start in early September to the deadline for the entry somewhere at the end of November or early December. “There is no set time,” Kiefer said. “My father and my uncle’s mentality is go-go-go. My plot is always the last thing that I plant and it’s always the last thing that I harvest, because it definitely consumes more time. Typically it’s longer-season corns that are higher moisture, so we wait until the bitter end. There’s definitely a lot of yield loss there because they tell you your highest yields on a test plot can be anywhere from 25 percent to 30 percent moisture. The corn that won it last year came off at 19-percent moisture.” Kiefer tries to have an entry from a different farm field every year, “to show that I can do it on X-, Y-and Z-farm and not just one farm all the time,” he said. Former Dairy In 1956, the Kiefers purchased their homestead, a former dairy farm. For the past several years, the family managed a 400-head beef feedlot, which they have decided to transition away from because it had become a strain on resources. Last September, the farm purchased another 110-acre property in Upper Mount Bethel Township for crop production. Early corn planted on April 21 was already sprouted by May 1. Willowbrook Farms got its name from an old brook at the top of the farm with a natural flowing spring surrounded by willow trees, Kiefer said. One full-time worker, William “Doug” Gardner, has been with Willowbrook Farms for 40 years. The bulk of the land is farmed in Lower Mount Bethel Township. The farm includes Brad’s father, Albert; an uncle, Robert; and Brad’s nephew, Bryce, son of Bryan Kiefer, Brad’s brother. Bryan passed away several years ago. Brad is married to Janelle and the children work on the farm as well: Karli, 14; Alexis, 12; Calvin, 10; and Makenzie, 8. Calvin drives the tractor and his daughters help Brad with paperwork and some bookkeeping. “We switched over from that 38-inch corn row to 30-inch rows and wanted to see where we were at as far as yields,” Kiefer said. “I saw some neighbors were entered in the past and I just wanted to see where we were.” Willowbrook Farms won first and second place in the National Corn Growers Association’s Yield Contest for conventional till in 2020, the first year that the Kiefers planted 30-inch row corn. “We never entered the contest before,” Kiefer said. “We wanted to see where we were now that we stepped up to the times and went with 30-inch corn. We saw the yield with less weed pressure.” Kiefer praises the hard work and dedication by his grandfather, Pete, “who has given us the work ethic, him being successful in his time and being able to purchase land,” Brad said. “He basically taught us everything we know, some old school mentality and some transitioning into newer stuff.” The key is having the right people on the farm. “The key to any business is having good people and family around you that makes the whole operation work,” he said.

CodeRED
LMBT utilizes the CodeRED Emergency Notification System for important township annoucements such as snow emergencies. CodeRED is a FREE emergency notification service available to all residents and businesses. The system will notify you of emergency information through phone calls, text messages, social media and the CodeRED Mobile Alert App.

The system will be used to keep you informed of local events that may immediately impact your safety, such as evacuations, snow emergencies or a shelter-in-place. It can also notify you of upcoming community events and information, such as Community Days or lost pets.

As a resident or business in Lower Mount Bethel Township, the Board of Supervisors encourage you to register for this FREE service. To enroll online, Click HERE.

To register for the CodeRED Mobile Alert App, Click HERE.

You may also enroll using your smartphone by texting "LMBT" to 99411.

CodeRED


Sanitation Assessment bills were mailed on February 14th. If you do not receive your bill, please contact Keystone Collections Group at 1-866-539-1100 and select prompt 3.

There are four options for making your payment:

• Online – The easiest and most convenient option. Pay online at www.KeystoneCollects.com using either the “Pay/File” tab or the “Taxpayer Resources” tab. Use a credit card or bank account to remit payment. Please refer to the due dates on your bill.

• Mail – Payment may be remitted by mail. Please include the bottom portion of your bill and select face or penalty. Payments sent by mail must be post-marked by the due date for the specific period. Pay the exact amount due and remit to:

Keystone Collections Group
PO Box 449
Irwin, PA 15642

• In Person – Payment may be made in person at a Keystone branch office. Branch offices accept payment by check, money order and/or certified funds. Some branch offices do not accept cash payments. Please visit www.KeystoneCollects.com online for a list of branch offices.

• By Phone – Payment may be made by phone using credit card or bank account information by calling Keystone Collections Group toll free at 1-866-539-1100. Please have your account information available when calling.

Congratulations to the Kiefer family and Willow Brook Farms! ‘Old-School’ Mentality Wins National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest. Please Click HERE to read the article from Lancaster Farming.

Looking for opportunities to volunteer and make a difference in the Township? LMBT is still accepting letters of interest for the following committee/board positions:

• 1 Vacancy on the Planning Commission
• 2 Vacancies on the Recreation Board
• 1 Vacancy on the Zoning Hearing Board
• 1 Vacancy for an Elected Auditor

Please submit your letter of interested to Melissa in-person at the Township office either or by email to: secretary@lowermtbethel.org.

Permits are now available for the 2024-2025 Fall Archery Deer Hunting Season and the Spring Gobbler Hunting Season. If you are interested in obtaining a permit, please contact Melissa Mastrogiovanni at the municipal office at 610-252-5074 or by email: secretary@lowermtbethel.org.

Pennsylvania is number one for vehicle collisions with animals – mostly deer – according to an annual report issued by State Farm Insurance. Responsibility for removing deer carcasses from roadways is shared by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. All state roads in Northampton County are covered by a contract between PennDOT and a private vendor who may be reached by calling 610-250-1840. All non-state roads are covered by the Pennsylvania Game Commission who may be reached by calling 610-926-3136.

For additional information regarding the removal of dead or injured deer from the roadway, please click HERE.

Welcome To Lower Mount Bethel Township

Welcome to beautiful Lower Mount Bethel Township. The Township is located in northeastern Northampton County, Pennsylvania along the Delaware River in the Lehigh Valley. It is bounded on the south by Forks Township; on the west by a portion of Plainfield Township; to the northwest by Washington Township and to the north by Upper Mount Bethel Township. Lower Mount Bethel Township is part of Pennsylvania's Slate Belt and has a population of 3,101 per the 2010 Census.

Lower Mount Bethel Township has a total land area of 24.7 square miles and is relatively rural in character. The primary use of township land is agriculture, with animal husbandry, dairy and corn field crops being the most important. Residential is the second most important use of township lands.

Lower Mount Bethel Township is classified as a Township of the Second Class by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The local governing body consists of five elected members comprising the Board of Supervisors. The Township has an appointed Manager/Treasurer to oversee administrative activities. The Township provides road service, building and zoning inspections, park and recreation services and administrative services to the community.

The main office is located at 2004 Hutchison Avenue in Martins Creek.

CodeRED Community Notification Enrollment

CodeRED is a FREE emergency notification service available to all residents and businesses. The system will notify you of emergency information through phone calls, text messages, social media and the CodeRED Mobile Alert App. The system will be used to keep you informed of local events that may immediately impact your safety, such as evacuations, snow emergencies or a shelter-in-place. It can also notify you of upcoming coming community events and information, such as Community Days or lost pets.

Please Click HERE to enroll in CodeRed or text LMBT to 99411.

CodeRED

Lower Mount Bethel Township
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