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HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania is investing more than $9.1 million to purchase development rights for 2,565 acres on 34 farms in 16 counties. The investment will protect prime farmland from future residential or commercial development and help ensure that farm families have the fertile land they need to produce food, fiber, and fuel to feed our economy in the future.
"Pennsylvania leads the nation in farmland preservation because farm families, communities, and the Commonwealth are working together to protect the land that feeds us," Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. "The families who committed to preserving their farms today show what that commitment looks like -- strengthening agricultural communities while protecting prime soil as a resource for farming."
Pennsylvania's Farmland Preservation Program is a state partnership with local and county governments and sometimes nonprofits to purchase development rights to protect prime farmland permanently, ensuring a strong future for farming and food security.
Conservation easements, commonly known as development rights, become part of the property's deed and stay with the land even if the farm changes owners. By selling development rights, farm owners ensure that their farms remain in agricultural production and are never sold to developers.
Several farms approved for easement purchases today build on the commitment to protecting Pennsylvania's farmland from future development. Preserving a second Lehigh County-owned farm increases the protected portion of a farm given to the county as a gift to the county, to 406 acres, or 90% of the donated land.
Preserving the 190-acre John and Cynthia Clouse Farm in Cumberland County will create a nearly 800-acre cluster of federally preserved farmland in a high-priority area of the Kittatinny Ridge Conservation Landscape.
In Schuylkill County, preserving the Musser family farm -- the family's second preserved parcel -- creates a five-farm, 434-acre block of protected farmland, further saving the region from development.
Pennsylvania leads the nation in preserved farms. Since 1988, when voters statewide overwhelmingly supported creating the state's Farmland Preservation Program, Pennsylvania has protected 6,759 farms and 669,854 acres in 58 counties from future development, investing more than $1.82 billion in state, county, and local funds.
Farms preserved at the Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board Meeting are listed below by county, along with a breakdown of the total $9,107,101 invested:
Adams County - Total investment – $519,724; state – $449,055; county – $40,673; Cumberland Township – $29,996
Todd A. Durboraw, 169-acre crop and livestock farm, Cumberland Township
Beaver County - Total investment – $891,531; state – $587,073; county – $304,458
Donald J. Kretschmann, Trustee of the Donald J. Kretschmann Revocable Trust, 72-acre crop farm, New Sewickley Township
Carl E. and Sarah L. Sockaci, 121-acre crop and livestock farm, Franklin Township
Bucks County - Total investment – $423,681; state – $358,966; county – $19,694; Bedminster Township – $45,021
Joseph V. and Diane M. Bello, 20-acre crop farm, Plumstead Township
Katie Kashner, 18-acre crop farm, Bedminster Township
Centre County - Total investment – $508,726; state – $463,726; county – $20,000; Potter Township – $25,000
Christopher A. Ishler, 152-acre crop and livestock farm, Potter Township
Columbia County - Total investment – $80,419; state only
Soil Bound #2, 60-acre crop farm, Catawissa Township
Cumberland County - Total investment – $917,918; state – $784,692; county – $133,226
John L. and Cynthia K. Clouse, 190-acre crop and livestock farm, Upper Frankford and Lower Mifflin Townships
John A. Dyarman #2, 39-acre crop farm, West Pennsboro Township
Dauphin County - Total investment – $464,386; state only
Catherine A. Barrick, 37-acre crop and livestock farm, Jefferson Township
Eric A. and Renee K. Enders, 88-acre crop and livestock farm, Halifax Township
Barbara L. Glick, 83-acre crop farm, Jackson Township
Franklin County - Total investment – $354,213; state – $305,688; county – $48,525
John B. and Pamela J. Schnebly, 139-acre crop and livestock farm, Montgomery Township
Lancaster County - Total investment – $2,579,809; state – $2,130,360; county – $404,449; Warwick Township – $45,000
Jean E. Alvisi, 59-acre crop farm, East Cocalico Township
Joel L. and Kimberly K. Brandt, 40-acre crop farm, Mount Joy Township
Jeffrey P. and Kay L. Diehl, 23-acre crop farm, Manor Township
Ralph Mark and Rebecca Jean Huber, 48-acre crop and livestock farm, Martic Township
Herbert S., Darlene F., Scott J., and Vicki L. Kreider, 10-acre crop farm, East Drumore Township
Dustin L. and Kelsey M. Martin, 61-acre crop farm, West Lampeter Township
Dwight and Ashley Martin, 41-acre crop and livestock farm, East Donegal Township
Scattered Acres Reinholds, 124-acre dairy farm, West Cocalico Township
Smuckerland #2, 38-acre crop and livestock farm, Upper Leacock Township
Dale L. and Mary E. Weiler, 90-acre crop and livestock farm, Caernarvon Township
G. Anthony and Luann H. Zimmerman, 91-acre crop and livestock farm, Warwick Township
Lebanon County - Total investment – $290,661; state – $217,397; county – $73,264
Dale H. and Jolene R. Zimmerman, 114-acre dairy farm, Jackson Township
Lehigh County - Total investment – $474,518; state – $342,458; county – $127,800; Weisenberg Township – $4,260
Jeffrey Broadhurst, 21-acre crop farm, Weisenberg Township
County of Lehigh #2, 53-acre crop farm, Upper Milford Township
Lycoming County - Total investment – $207,625; state – $179,431; county – $28,194
David C. and Margaret C. Johnson, 161-acre crop and livestock farm, Jackson Township
Northampton County - Total investment – $634,303; state – $402,967; county – $10,000; Plainfield Township – $221,336
Anna L. Eckensberger and Gay L. Perkins, 15-acre crop farm, Allen Township
Huratiak Homes LLC, 35-acre crop farm, Plainfield Township
Jendy Sell, 18-acre beef farm, Lehigh Township
Schuylkill County - Total investment – $257,980; state – $237,980; county – $20,000
Jerry L. and Edna F. Musser #2, 123-acre crop and livestock farm, South Manheim Township
Tioga County - Total investment – $218,005; state – $136,323; county – $81,682
Hilma F. Cooper, 116-acre crop farm, Charleston Township
York County - Total investment – $283,601; state – $7,147; county – $276,454
Jason L. and Jenny S. Gross, 81-acre crop and livestock farm, Codorus Township