Farms Protected in Adams, Centre, Cumberland, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Northampton, Schuylkill, Union, York counties
Harrisburg, PA – The Shapiro Administration announced today that Pennsylvania preserved 1,519 acres on 22 farms in 11 counties, forever protecting them from residential or commercial development. The development rights approved for purchase today by the State Land Preservation Board represent a more than $5.8 million investment in ensuring that Pennsylvania farmers will have prime farmland to feed our families and economy in the future.
"In the simplest terms, without farms we don't eat," Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. "Pennsylvania has some of the richest soil in the nation and is situated near ports, railways, interstate highways, and 40 percent of the nation's population – the very people we need to feed. Protecting those economic opportunities and irreplaceable resources for our farmers is one of the most important investments we make as a state."
Pennsylvania leads the nation in preserved farmland. Since 1988, when voters overwhelmingly supported creation of the Farmland Preservation Program, Pennsylvania has protected 6,336 farms and 634,375 acres in 58 counties from future development, investing more than $1.69 billion in state, county, and local funds.
Pennsylvania partners with county, and sometimes local government and nonprofits to purchase development rights, ensuring a strong future for farming and food security. By selling their land's development rights, farm owners ensure that their farms will remain farms and never be sold to developers.
Notable among farms preserved this month, two Schuylkill County farms will trigger additional investment of federal dollars through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The farms are along the Kittatinny Ridge, an area rich in farmland and forested land, critical not just for producing food, but for providing wildlife habitat and improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay, and with it, the water supply of the mid-Atlantic region. These dollars will be used for preserving farms whose owners have applied for easements but were placed on a waiting list until funds became available.
Also notable, the Frey farm in Adams County was preserved using funds donated to the county by Tim Brown, a neighboring farmer in Mt. Joy township. Prior to his death, Brown, a former chair of the Adams County Land Preservation Board, left more than $500,000 to the county to be used to preserve farmland surrounding his farm.
"Farm families who sell their land development rights are leaving a legacy that will ensure that future Pennsylvania families have green spaces and healthy farmland to produce food, income, and jobs," Sec. Redding said. "Tim Brown was passionate about that legacy. He embodied the care of the environment and his neighbors that defines so many Pennsylvania farmers. The Shapiro Administration is proud to continue supporting that legacy and partnering with federal, county, and local government to sustain our future together."
Farms preserved today and dollars invested, by county:
Adams County – Total investment – $123,589; $3,594 – state, $119,995 county
Paula K. Frey, Mt. Joy Township, 46-acre crop farm
Centre County – Total investment – $445,999; $223,798 state, $4,357 county, $217,844 township
Joanne M. Fisher, Halfmoon Township,117-acre crop and livestock farm
Cumberland County – Total investment – $148,529 state only
Ronald L. and Judy P. Deihl, Lower Frankford Township, 83-acre crop and livestock farm
Lancaster County – Total investment – $679,548; $42,099 – state, $470,414 – county, $88,550 township
Christopher D. and Lois A. Hoover, East Drumore Township, 42-acre crop and livestock farm
Stevie G. and Susie L. King, West Lampeter Township, 47-acre dairy farm
Kerry L. Meyer, Penn Township, 56-acre crop farm
Daniel S. and Barbara G. Smucker, Caernarvon Township, 39-acre dairy farm
Lebanon County – Total investment – $201,781; $144,944 – state, $56,837 county
Kathleen S. Eisenhouer, Linda S. Johnson, Glen R. Hess, North Annville Township, 79-acre crop farm
Lehigh County – Total investment – $1,645,867; $220,018 – state, $1,425,848 – county
William G. and Cheryl C. Ash and Brian Brady, Heidelberg Township, horse farm
Weinhofer Farms LLC, Whitehall Township, 154-acre crop farm
Errol W. and Virginia A. Zellner, Brenda Kay and Robert Price, Washington Township, 28-acre crop farm
Luzerne County – Total investment – $210,415, state only
Burger's Farm LLC, Butler Township, 59-acre crop farm
Northampton County – Total investment – $552,772, state only
Jody L. and Megan M. Snyder, Lehigh Township, 33-acre crop farm
Weinhofer Farms LLC #3, East Allen Township, 16-acre crop farm
Schuylkill County – Total investment – $608,850; $543,850 – state, $65,000 – county
Baron and Robin Heatherington #2, Union Township, 50-acre crop farm
William K. Stump #1, Wayne Township, 157-acre crop farm
Carl H. and Edith E. Wehry and Carl J. Wehry #1, Barry Township, 84-acre crop and livestock farm
Union County – Total investment – $212,755; $109,652 – state, $103,104 – county
Ralph M. and Lexie C. Reish, Buffalo Township, 69-acre crop and livestock farm
York County – Total investment – $1,009,547; $21,180 – state, $988,367 – county
Lynn D. and Tammie M. Godfrey #1, Springfield Township,127-acre crop farm
Kevin D. and Robin D. Grim #1, Paradise Township, 108-acre crop farm
Larry W. and Lisa Kenton #1, Washington Township, 28-acre crop farm
Stephen J. and Dolores E. Krick #1, Lower Chanceford Township, 72-acre horse farm
These purchases continue to multiply Pennsylvania dollars invested in conservation initiatives, including the $154 million Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program, supporting farmers' efforts to reduce water pollution and improve soil quality, along with Clean & Green tax incentives, Resource Enhancement and Protection dollars, and other conservation funding. Pennsylvania's Farmland Preservation Program also secured a $7.85 million federal grant from USDA's Regional Conservation Partnership Program to support climate-smart conservation on preserved Pennsylvania farms, an investment that will not only improve conservation efforts, but help measure their impact.
To learn more about Pennsylvania's Farmland Preservation Program and investments in a secure, sustainable future for Pennsylvania agriculture, visit agriculture.pa.gov.
Contact: Shannon Powers, shpowers@pa.gov, 717.603.2056
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