State permanently preserves more than 2,300 acres of farmland

Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board has permanently preserved 2,303 acres in 16 counties on 30 farms for agricultural production, according to Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.

“These newly preserved farms represent an investment in the future of our state economy, our environment, and the world’s food supply,” Redding said. “The partnership of state, county, local and federal government working to protect these farms from non-agricultural development combines with the farmers’ commitment to a longstanding tradition of conservation. Together our efforts benefit the common good.”

The Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program launched in 1988. The program’s goal is to slow the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses by purchasing conservation easements.

Since its launch, the program has purchased permanent easements on 5,359 farms in 59 counties totaling 555,006 acres.

This fiscal year, funding for the program was increased by more than $12.5 million.

The state’s department of agriculture signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in 2016. This allows the state’s program to submit farms for consideration under the federal Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.

Under the most recent cooperative agreement, the state secured more than $1.7 million to preserve eight farms totaling 1,652 acres.