Harrisburg, PA - Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board announced yesterday that it added 2,999 acres on 33 farms in 12 counties to the more than half a million acres and 5,100 Pennsylvania farms permanently preserved for agricultural production.
“Farmland is a precious natural resource that is increasingly threatened by development,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “Farm families are the original stewards of that precious natural resource, and Pennsylvania’s farmland preservation program supports their efforts to keep their valuable land in agricultural production for future generations.”
The board announced preservation of farms in 12 counties: Berks, Blair, Bucks, Centre, Chester, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton, Perry, Snyder, Union and York.
The Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program, as it is formally known, identifies properties and slows the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses. It enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements, or development rights, from owners of quality farmland.
Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have invested nearly $1.4 billion to preserve 539,180 acres on 5,169 farms in 59 counties for future agricultural production.
To learn more about Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program, visit agriculture.pa.gov.
Farms Preserved:
Adams
Mildred M. Sauble farm, 127-acre crop farm
Tuckey Fruit Farm, 30-acre fruit farm
Berks
Jay D. and Monica Hunsberger farm #2, 42-acre crop farm
Norman L., Karen L., and Nathan D. Manbeck farm #1, 30-acre crop farm
Scott A. and Donna M. Naftzinger farm #1, 63-acre crop and livestock farm
Blair
Michael D. and Carol M. Hoover, 375-acre crop farm
Bucks
Robert S. and Carrie Z. Arner, 64-acre crop farm
Edward Litzenberger, 61-acre crop farm
Centre
Donald, Wayne and Scott Fravel farm #1, 67-acre crop and livestock farm
Herbert, Samuel and Martha A. Grove farm #1, 157-acre crop and livestock farm
Chester
R. Lamar Harnish, 25-acre livestock farm
Levi P. Kauffman Jr. and Rachel Ann Kauffman, 60-acre equine operation
Marvin W. and Darryl M. King farm #1, 87-acre crop farm
Walter M. and Barbara E. Leis, 20-acre livestock farm
David S. and Priscilla K. Stoltzfus, 64-acre crop farm
Lancaster
Randall and Martha A. Clugston farm #1, 12-acre crop and livestock farm
Randall and Martha A. Clugston farm #2, 42-acre crop and livestock farm
Sylvan M. and Annie S. Esch farm #1, 181-acre crop and livestock farm
Fay P. Herr, 11-acre crop and livestock farm
Ray A. and Paul E. Kunkle, and Raeann Hamish, 54-acre crop and livestock farm
Daniel B. and Mary L. Stoltzfus, 66-acre crop and livestock farm
Michael L. and Cheryl E. Zimmerman, 111-acre crop and livestock farm
Lehigh
Paul H. Bachman Sr. and Paul H. Bachman Jr., 93-acre crop farm
Lawrence W. Heintzelman III, 45-acre crop and livestock farm
Franklin A. Reith Jr. and Kimberly A. Reith, 29-acre crop farm
Paul W. and Nancy J. Semmel, 145-acre crop and livestock farm
Northampton
John Bocko Sr., 94-acre livestock farm
Ronald K. Wedde farm #1, 32-acre crop farm
Perry
J.S. and E.A. Hinkel Family LTD, 212-acre crop farm
Snyder
Mic Hauck, 227-acre crop farm
Union
Margaret L. Harris (Lauver), 76-acre crop farm
York
Josh, Sundee, Wayne, and Jean Hoffman, 207-acre crop and livestock farm
MEDIA CONTACT: Shannon Powers - 717.783.2628
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