Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Program adds acreage from 20 more farms

HARRISBURG, Pa. – During the June meeting of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board, an additional 20 farms in 15 counties were added to the state’s nation-leading farmland preservation program – totaling 1,718 acres of additional farmland.

Western Pennsylvania

Farms preserved in western Pennsylvania include: Erie County; The Thomas and Wendy Wilkinson and Janeene Hesling Farm #1, an 81.87-acre crop farm. Greene County; The Richard Phillips Farm #1, a 107.62-acre crop and livestock operation.

Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have invested nearly $1.3 billion to preserve 508,478 acres on 4,802 farms in 57 counties for future agricultural production.

The board preserved farms in 15 counties: Adams, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Erie, Greene, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Lycoming, Mifflin, Northampton and York.

Development risk

The Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program identifies properties at risk of development 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.

Governor Tom Wolf’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2015-16 builds on Pennsylvania’s commitment to preserving valuable farmland by approving a $30 million investment through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Fund line item – a $2.5 million, or nine percent, increase over what is available in the current fiscal year.

For more information, visit www.agriculture.state.pa.us and search “farmland preservation.”