farmland preservation Archives - Central Penn Business Journal

State invests nearly $7.5 million to save farmland from development

The state Department of Agriculture Thursday said nearly $7.5 million was invested in protecting 24 farms from future development.

The money from state, county, local governments protected 2,046 acres from commercial, industrial or residential development. The acquisition brings the total protected land to 616,713 acres on more than 6,100 farms.

The newly preserved farms are in Berks, Bucks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Wyoming and York counties.

“Every dollar spent protecting prime farmland from development is an investment in our economy, our environment, our quality of life, and our ability to feed Pennsylvania’s families and economy,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “Preserving land resources is one of the most important investments we make together, across every level of government, hand in hand with farm families investing to guard their legacy of daily hard work and sacrifice to feed us all.”

Farm families often sell their land at below market value, donate additional land, or agree to conservation practices on their farms in order to leverage additional federal and state money to preserve more family farms, the Department of Agriculture said.

Pennsylvania partners with county and sometimes local governments and non-profits to purchase development rights, ensuring a strong future for farming and food security and leading the nation in the number of preserved farms, the department said.

Notable farms preserved at Thursday’s PA Land Preservation Board meeting include:

John W. Marsteller Jr.’s York County crop farm is the third farm preserved by the family, bringing the family’s total protected land to more than 1,400 acres. Southern York County is experiencing intense residential development pressure as a bedroom community for Baltimore commuters.

Other farms preserved today and dollars invested by county include:

Berks County – Total investment – $923,414, state – $878,389, county – $45,025

The Mark B. Latshaw Farm, District Twp., a 180-acre crop farm

The David A. Yost Farm, Upper Tulpehocken Twp., a 122-acre crop farm

The Peter A. and LeAnne L. Zettlemoyer Farm, a 59-acre crop and livestock farm

Cumberland County – Total investment – $467,204, state – $9,347, county – $117,532, township – $340,325

The Thomas D. Moyer Farm #1, Silver Spring Twp., a 118-acre crop farm

Dauphin County – Total investment – $832,861, state only

Bechtel Farms, Halifax, a 123-acre crop farm

The Eli L. and Sadie M. King Farm, Mifflin Twp., a 93-acre crop and livestock farm

The John Neagley Farm, Washington Twp., a 165-acre crop farm

The Darryl Rode Farm, Halifax, a 62-acre crop farm

The Gerald F .and Linda K. Wiest Farm #2, Lykens, a 39-acre crop farm

Lancaster County – Total investment – $1,574,265, state only

The Benjamin Joel and Alisha Danae Nissley Farm, Mt. Joy, a 130-acre crop and livestock farm

The Fred L. and Connie L. Ranck Farm #1, Strasburg, a 33-acre crop farm

The Fred L. and Connie L. Ranck Farm #2, Strasburg, a 111-acre crop farm

The Matthew K. and Kelly L. Wiker Farm, Martic Twp., a 123-acre crop farm

Lehigh County – Total investment – $366,371, state – $356,371, county – $5,000, township – $5,000

The Michael G. and Karin M. Bowman Farm, Heidelberg Twp., a 26-acre crop farm

The Adam B. and Amanda L. Dietrich Farm, Lynn Twp., a 44-acre crop farm

Northampton County – Total investment – $466,534, state – $21,777, county – $227,100, township – $197,657

The Moore Township #5 Farm, a 43-acre crop farm

The Walter M. Jr. and Melody A. Schlegel Farm, Plainfield Twp., a 40-acre crop farm

York County – Total investment – $1,001,978, state – $775,583, county – $226,395

The Robert B. and Judy K. Burchett Farm #4, Chanceford Twp., a 104-acre crop farm

The Lydia M. Manifold Farm #2, East Hopewell Twp., an 84-acre crop farm

The John W. Marsteller, Jr. Farm #1, Hopewell Twp., a 149-acre crop farm

Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program recently secured a $7.85 million grant from the USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program to support climate-smart conservation on preserved Pennsylvania farms.

The dollars will further multiply the Wolf Administration’s investments in conservation in the 2022-’23 budget, which devotes $220 million to the new Clean Streams Fund. The fund includes $154 million to establish a new Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program supporting farmers’ efforts to reduce water pollution and improve soil quality, and $22 million to increase funding for the existing Nutrient Management Fund, which supports technical assistance to farms to reduce run-off.

Pennsylvania has preserved more than 6,000 farms with the latest round of farm purchases.

This week, the state protected 1,969 acres on 26 farms in 12 counties from future development, investing more than $6.4 million in state, county and township dollars.

The approved farm purchases bring the state total to 6,004 farms and 608,091 acres of prime farmland that will be forever protected from commercial, industrial or residential development, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

“Pennsylvania farmers face tremendous pressure to sell their valuable land to developers,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “Many of these families have farmed through generations of hardships and uncertainty, but they are committed to ensuring their legacy continues and Pennsylvania has the resources to feed future generations.

“Pennsylvania is home to some of the most fertile, non-irrigated soil in the nation, and we have been the most successful of any state in at protecting our prime farmland.” Redding said. This is one of our most important investments in feeding our families and our economy in years to come.”

By selling their land’s development rights, landowners preserve their farms, protecting the land from future residential, commercial or industrial development. Farm families often sell their land at below market value to ensure that it will remain farmland. Pennsylvania partners with county and sometimes local governments and non-profits to purchase the development rights.

The State Agricultural Land Preservation Board also set the 2022 spending threshold at $38 million. County programs set aside $15.9 million in local funds to spend on preserving farms in 2022.

The 26 farms preserved are in Berks, Blair, Chester, Dauphin, Fayette, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Mercer, Northampton, Schuylkill and York counties.

Notable farms preserved include:

The Leon and Linda Burkholder Farm, a 70.6-acre crop and livestock farm in Maxatawny Township, Berks County, is classified by the USDA as nearly all prime farmland soils, the best for producing food. The farm is adjacent to two other preserved farms and within two miles of thirty-four others.

Kenneth D. Myer Farm, a 133.77-acre crop and heifer operation in Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County, is a well-managed, highly productive farm bordering an area designated in the county’s comprehensive plan as an Urban Growth Area. The farm will add to an 800-acre block of preserved farmland in the vicinity, ensuring that agriculture will thrive for generations.

The Ronald Carkin Farm, a 77.39-acre crop and beef operation in Sandy Township, Mercer County, officially the program’s 6,000th farm preserved, is in a portion of the Greater Pittsburgh region that is experiencing significant residential development pressures. The farm is close to the Lake Wilhelm, part of the Maurice K. Goddard State Park.

Other farms preserved include:

Berks County – Total investment $643,649 state; $135,900 county

The Leon and Linda Burkholder, and Aaron W. Nolt Farm, a 71-acre crop and livestock farm

The Ammon N. and Edna S. Leid Farm, a 60-acre crop and livestock farm

The Daniel H. & Kristine W. Schuler Farm #2, a 126-acre crop farm

The Richard C. Wolf Farm, a 33-acre crop farm

Dauphin County – Total investment $135,300, state only

The Laurie Myers Farm, a 90-acre crop and livestock farm

Lancaster County – Total investment $1,232,111 state, $594,832 county, $113,000 townships

The Wayne S. and Brenda L. Baum Farm, a 16-acre dairy farm

The Christopher S. and Bethany G. Harnish Farm #1, a 46-acre crop farm

The Christopher S. and Bethany G. Harnish Farm #2, a 48-acre crop farm

The Galen C. Martin Farm, a 56-acre crop farm

John E. & Linda M. Shenk Farm, a 35-acre crop and livestock farm

Eli L. & Sadie S. Stoltzfus Farm, a 37-acre dairy farm

The Kenneth D. Myer Farm, a 132-acre crop and livestock farm

The Thomas E. & Lindsey A. Nauman Farm, an 87-acre crop and livestock farm

The Gerald M. & Lorene N. Nolt Farm, an 88-acre crop and livestock farm

Lehigh County – Total investment $347,099 state, $328,871 county

The Cole Jason Moyer and Roseanna Moyer Farm, a 116-acre crop farm

Northampton County – Total investment $1,155,405 state only

The Eric F. and Milissa L. Smith Farm, a 77-acre crop farm

The Roger C. and Trudy P. Unangst Farm, a 68-acre crop farm

York County – Total investment $4,662 state, $305,040

The Kenneth R. Snyder Jr. and Debra D. Snyder Farm #2, a 102-acre crop farm

Pa.’s farmland preservation program surpasses 600,000 acres

Pennsylvania’s farmland preservation program has preserved more than 600,000 acres, a milestone was celebrated at the Martin Farm in Berks County by state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, and state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, minority chair of the Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs committee, and industry leaders.

The state invested $7.5 million to preserve 2,515 acres on 29 farms in 14 counties, including farms in Berks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Schuylkill and York counties. The program, which pays farmers for development rights, ensures the land will remain in the production of agriculture.

Since taking office in 2015, Gov. Tom Wolf has made farmland preservation a priority investment dedicating more than $253 million in the state’s program, an increase of 132 % over the previous administration’s investment in the program. Combined with investments from county farmland preservation programs, program has preserved nearly 100,000 acres since 2015.

“Pennsylvania’s farmland preservation program is of utmost importance – agricultural development and farmland preservation are inextricably tied to food security and nutrition and the population of Pennsylvania and the world are only increasing,” said Governor Wolf.

“My investments in preserving Pennsylvania farmland for perpetuity are critical to increasing the quantity and diversity of food, driving economic transformation, and ensuring that land is always available for Pennsylvania’s $132.5 billion agriculture industry.”

“In just 34 years, Pennsylvania has preserved more than 600,000 acres of the most productive, non-irrigated farmland in the United States,” said Redding.

“As climate change and our growing population place increased demand on land use, this program becomes even more critical to the resilience of agriculture. The acreage preserved over the past 34 years, and what we look forward to preserving tomorrow, is an investment in the future needs of Pennsylvania, the nation and the world.”

“Not every state is fortunate enough to have an agriculture industry like we have in Pennsylvania,” added Schwank.

“It’s a major economic driver and serves as the green infrastructure that sustains the Commonwealth environmentally. Preserving farmland ensures we can grow our own crops and rely less on imports and products.”

Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have purchased permanent easements on 5,928 Pennsylvania farms totaling 601,647 acres.

Farms preserved and dollars invested, by county:

Berks County – total investment: $375,651 state, $207,200 county.
The Benjamin & Karah Davies farm, a 20-acre livestock operation.
The Kenneth & Elizabeth Ehst farm, a 27-acre crop farm.
The Curtis & Dorothy Huber farm, a 20-acre crop farm.
The Dennis & Donna Kunkle farm, a 61-acre crop and livestock operation.
The Jeremy & Cindy Martin farm, a 50-acre crop and livestock operation.
The Warren & Bonnie Wessner farm, a 76-acre crop farm.

Cumberland County – total investment: $509,985 state, $100,000 county.
The Jacob & Lora Crider farm, a 92-acre crop and livestock operation.
The Floyd & Susan Martin farm, a 68-acre crop and livestock operation.

Dauphin County – total investment: $39,540 state only.
Andals Farm, a 26-acre crop farm.

Lancaster County – total investment: $1,723,754 state only.
The Joshua & Britni Akers farm, a 154-acre crop and livestock operation.
The Bradley & Lois Beiler farm, a 92-acre crop and livestock operation.
The Thomas & Iva Lapp farm, a 102-acre crop and livestock operation.
The Jerry Paul & Laurie Beth O’Donnell farm, a 113-acre crop and livestock operation.

Lehigh County – total investment: $676,372 state, $17,990 county.
The Mark & Annie Miller farm, a 112-acre crop farm.

Montgomery County – total investment: $1,932,433 state, $870,309 county.
AFZ Development, a 36-acre crop farm.
The John & Donald Black and Donna Horn farm, a 44-acre livestock operation.
The Jason Lutchendorf #1 farm, a 76-acre crop farm.
The Scott & Sharon Melanson farm, a 26-acre crop farm.

Northampton County – total investment: $227,635 state, $277,470 county.
Sutliff Farms #1, a 33-acre crop farm.
The Carl & Judith Nicholas farm, a 16-acre crop farm.

Schuylkill County – total investment: $215,534 state, $215,534 county.
The Glenn Hetherington #5 farm, a 151-acre crop farm.

York County – total investment: $13,251 state, $817,890 county.
The Randall & Sarah Patterson farm, a 228-acre crop and livestock operation.
Pennsylvania Wine Works, a 44-acre vineyard.

In 2019, an agriculture research study funded by the department and conducted through the University of Pennsylvania, found the total economic impact of farmland preservation in Pennsylvania to be valued from $1.8 to $2.9 billion annually. The report also estimated environmental benefits of farmland preservation to be an additional $1.9 billion annually.

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