Harrisburg, PA – The Shapiro Administration announced today that Pennsylvania preserved 2,645 acres on 35 farms in 18 counties, forever protecting them from future residential or commercial development. The investment of $8.64 million in state, county, and local dollars preserves prime farmland, so that Pennsylvania farms can continue feeding our families and our economy in the future.

The commonsense, bipartisan budget Governor Josh Shapiro signed last month makes critical investments in supporting Pennsylvania farmers in their work to conserve resources, investing in the equipment purchases, business planning, and farm management tools they need to innovate and continue to grow.

“’No farms, no food’ is the battle cry for farmland preservation across the country,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “Pennsylvania has led that charge, and families who preserve their farms join forces with government, investing together to ensure that future Pennsylvania families will have green spaces and healthy farmland available to produce food, income, and jobs.”  

Pennsylvania continues to lead the nation in preserved farmland. Since 1988, when voters overwhelmingly supported the creation of the Farmland Preservation Program, Pennsylvania has protected 6,266 farms and 628,967 acres in 58 counties from future development, investing nearly $1.68 billion in state, county, and local funds.

Pennsylvania partners with county and sometimes local governments 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.

The newly preserved farms are in Adams, Allegheny, Beaver, Berks, Chester, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Erie, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Lycoming, Montgomery, Northampton, Union, and York counties.

Farms preserved today and dollars invested, by county:

Adams County – Total investment – $251,606.85; $197,885.49 – state, $24,418.80 – county,

$29,302.56 – township

Beatrice F. Waybright Farm #2, Cumberland Township, 71-acre crop farm

Allegheny County – Total investment – $782,674.26 state only

The Robert H., Robert B., Jane S., Jillian R. Morrow, and Rebecca, and Anthony Mattarochia Farm, Plum Borough, 129-acre crop and livestock farm

Beaver County – Total investment – $443,267.25 state only

Steffler Homestead Limited Partnership Farm, Franklin Township, 108-acre crop farm

Berks County – Total investment – $377,350.95; $261,416.95 – state, $115,934.00 – county

Alice A Deanin Farm, North Heidelberg Township, 31-acre crop &and livestock farm

Roy and Ruthann Kunkel Farm #1, Albany Township, 32-acre crop farm

Skyline Acres, Inc. Farm, Upper Bern Township, 65-acre crop farm

Chester County – Total investment – $559,757.45; $35,405.02 – state, $524,352.43 – county

Luke A. Allen Farm, Upper Oxford Township, 68-acre equine operation

Kathleen M. Anderson Farm, Elk Township, 16-acre equine operation

Neil J. and Alice E. DeBonaventura Farm, West Fallowfield Township, 40-acre crop and livestock farm

Gail A Emerson Farm, West Fallowfield Township, 13-acre equine operation

Columbia County – Total investment – $98,314.36 state only

Soil Bound LLC Farm, Franklin Township, 76-acre crop farm

Cumberland County – Total investment – $847,625.55; $527,830.03 – state, $319,795.52 county

Jonathan W. Bream Farm #2, Penn Township, 14-acre crop farm

Arlin D. and Karla D. Wadel Farm, Southampton Township, 113-acre poultry operation

Weaver Farm, North Newton Township, 101-acre poultry operation

Dauphin County – Total investment – $476,632.78 state only

Bruce and Carol Mattis Farm, Halifax Township, 124-acre crop and livestock farm

The Henninger Family Irrevocable Trust, Michael W. & David H. Henninger and Joanne K.

Rheem, Trustees, Washington Township, 145-acre crop farm

Erie County – Total investment – $267,886.65; $167,886.65 – state, $100,000 county

Daniel J and Dolores D. Renick Farm #1, McKean Township, 132-acre crop and livestock farm

Lackawanna County – Total investment – $264,606.50 state only

William A. Dixon and Marissa A Opalka Farm, Benton Township, 115-acre crop farm

Lancaster County – Total investment – $1,797,783.98; $1,760,783.98 – state, $37,000 – county

John S. and Esther S. Beiler Farm, Colerain Township, 74-acre dairy farm

Reuben Z. and Naomi S. Beiler Farm, Salisbury Township, 87-acre crop and livestock farm

Victoria K. Graybeal Farm, Fulton Township, 103-acre crop farm

William E. and Diane K. Hershey Farm #1, Little Britain Township, 118-acre dairy farm

William E. and Diane K. Hershey Farm #2, Little Britain Township, 80-acre crop farm

Randall C. and Maria R. Kreider Farm, Manor Township, 20-acre crop farm

Lebanon County – Total investment – $509,778.27; $416,258.47 – state, $93,519.80 – county

Dale E. and Pattie L. Maulfair Farm, Bethel Township, 201-acre crop farm

Lehigh County – Total investment – $527,913.10; $423,529.60 – state, $75,231.50 – county,

$29,152 – township

Dominick Basciano and Jane B. Heft Farm, Upper Saucon Township, 27-acre crop farm

Beth Ann Kramer Farm, Weisenberg Township, 41-acre crop and livestock farm

Paul D. Nester Farm, Lynn Township, 14-acre crop far

Lycoming County – Total investment – $208,447.92; $196,827.92 – state, $11,620 – county

Kevin P. and Angela Lynn Ganther Farm, Wolf Township, 93-acre crop farm

Paul O. and Patricia P. Wentzler Farm, Muncy Township, 67-acre crop far

Montgomery County – Total investment – $208,317.56; $168,863.56 – state, $39,454 – county

Ellen Renninger Farm #1, Douglass Township, 20-acre crop farm

Northampton County – Total investment – $147,902.55; $10,133.95 – state, $137,768.60 – county

Jason J. and Kelly Hankee Farm, Lehigh Township, 22-acre crop farm

Union County – Total investment – $177,491.90 state only

Lucas, Melinda and Deborah Criswell #3 Farm, Kelly Township, 54-acre crop farm

York County – Total investment – $701,603.05 state only

Joel D. and Susan C. Deardorff Farm #1, Dover Township, 102-acre crop farm

David C. and Bettie J. Holloway Farm #1, Shrewsbury Township, 128-acre crop and livestock farm

These investments will multiply public dollars invested in conservation initiatives, including the new $154 million Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program, supporting farmers’ efforts to reduce water pollution and improve soil quality. 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.

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