HARRISBURG, Pa. — On Dec. 13, Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board safeguarded 1,974 additional acres on 28 farms in 14 counties through the state’s nation-leading farmland preservation program.
The 28 farms preserved are in Adams, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Clinton, Cumberland, Franklin, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Union and Westmoreland counties.
Farms preserved in western Pennsylvania include Pasture Maid Farm MJR, LLC, in Lawrence County, and Heinnickel Farms Inc., in Westmoreland County.
Since Governor Robert Casey signed Act 149 into law to create the program in December 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have invested more than $1.4 billion to preserve 559,698 acres on 5,428 farms in 58 counties for future agricultural production.
In 2018, the board approved 185 farms and 14,696 acres in total for preservation.
In some cases, federal funding helps to preserve these lands.
The department secured more than $2 million under its most recent federal cooperative agreement to preserve eight farms totaling 1,097 acres.
