On December 12, Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board safeguarded 2,450 additional acres on 29 farms in 16 counties through the state’s nation-leading farmland preservation program.

The state board, in partnership with county boards, ended the year by preserving 209 farms (17,505 acres)– the highest number of farms in a decade.

Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county, and local governments have purchased permanent easements on 5,636 farms totaling 577,092 acres in 59 counties for agricultural production.

“This collaboration of state, county, local, and federal government combines with the farmer’s commitment to safeguarding our land to help secure a future for agriculture and the world our industry feeds, clothes, and fuels,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “Preserved farmland represents an investment in our best agricultural land for not only our state economy, environment, and food supply, but for our generations to come.”

The 29 farms preserved are in Adams, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Chester, Dauphin, Erie, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Washington, Westmoreland, and York counties.  Click Here for a list of farms preserved.

The farms preserved this week include crop, equine, fruit and vegetable, vineyard, timber, dairy, horticulture and nursery, and livestock operations.

Notable farmland preserved includes the Brad, Beth and Caleb Cooper bicentennial farm from Butler County which is a recognized crop farm that has been in the Cooper family since 1796. The family safeguarded the 164-acre operation.

Jeffrey and Donald Buchholz and Joyce Sepulveda preserved their 49.05-acre fruit and vegetable farm in Northeast Township, Erie County. More than 3,000 acres of prime farmland are now protected in the Northeast Township, which fronts Lake Erie, supporting the region’s thriving wine industry.

Previously at a risk for development, 171.27-acre dairy operation owned by Richard and Colleen Shaffer of Bradford County was preserved. The dairy adjoins Wyalusing Borough’s growth area and is also next to another preserved farm.

For more information on this program, visit the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Land Preservation webpage.

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[Posted: December 13, 2019]

12/16/2019