The Farmland Preservation Board approved the investment of $18.6 million to preserve 4,934 acres of farmland in 17 counties, including two farms in Lancaster County – the first to be preserved under a unique county-and-non-profit partnership.

“By investing in new partnerships and working together to protect valuable farmland, we are ensuring a strong future for production agriculture in Pennsylvania,” said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. “As the state’s number one industry, every measure must be taken to keep agriculture growing for the benefit of our producers and consumers.”

Included in the announcement were the preservation of the King family farms in Lancaster County; the first two county-and-non-profit easement purchases between Lancaster County and the Lancaster Farmland Trust.

Pennsylvania continues to lead the nation in the number of farms and acres preserved. Since the program began in 1988, 365,553 acres on 3,273 farms have been protected.

The farms preserved as a result of this action are located in 17 counties: Adams, Allegheny, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Erie, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Northampton, Mifflin, Schuylkill, Somerset, Wayne and York.

Currently, 57 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are participating in the program.

The Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program was developed 18 years ago to help slow the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses. The program enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements, also called development rights, from owners of quality farmland.

For more information, visit the Farmland Preservation Program webpage.

8/17/2007