Pennsylvania adds 14 new farms in 12 counties to preservation program

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania has added 1,470 additional acres of land to its nationally recognized farmland preservation program under action by the Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board at its meeting Feb. 16 in Harrisburg.

14 preserved

The 14 newly preserved farms are located in Beaver, Berks, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Cumberland, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Northampton and Somerset counties.

“We’ve preserved nearly 15,000 acres of farmland across the state in just the past year alone,” said Agriculture Secretary George Greig. “This speaks volumes to the value our farm families place on ensuring the future viability of Pennsylvania agriculture – our state’s number-one industry.”

Since the program started in 1988, state, county and local governments have invested more than $1.1 billion to safeguard 459,007 acres on 4,243 farms.

Program

Pennsylvania’s farmland preservation efforts work through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program.

The program was developed to slow the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses. It enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements, also called development rights, from owners of quality farmland.

Details

For more information about Pennsylvania’s nation-leading farmland preservation program, visit www.agriculture.state.pa.us and search “farmland preservation.”