HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture will purchase development rights for 2,250 acres on 28 farms in 15 counties to forever protect them from residential and commercial development. The farms were approved for conservation easement purchases by the State Agricultural Land Preservation Board and reflect an $8.07 million investment which guarantees Pennsylvania farmers will have access to prime farmland for futures to come.
Since then, Pennsylvania has protected 6,364 farms and 636,625 acres in 58 counties from development since the program began in 1988. The state currently leads the nation in preserved farmland.
Pennsylvania partners with county and local governments and nonprofits to purchase development rights. Farmers who sell their development rights ensure their farms will never be sold to developers and only be used as farmland.
Farms preserved and dollars invested by county include:
Adams County, total investment: $319,687
• Maring Family Limited Partnership Farm, Cumberland Township, 93-acre crop and livestock farm
Beaver County, total investment: $380,382
• William M. and Mary Ann Swick Farm #1, North Sewickly Township, 91-acre crop and livestock farm
Chester County, total investment: $740,510
• Alberto Alvarez and Lillian F. Juang Farm, East Nottingham Township, 58-acre crop farm
• Robert R. and Dawn Smullen, Samantha J. and L. Cole Brantner Farm, Lower Oxford Township, 37-acre crop farm
Cumberland County, total investment: $324,389
• Paul E. and Harry G. Hoch Farm #3, Southampton Township, 94-acre crop and livestock farm
Dauphin County, total investment: $209,530
• Melissa S. Barrick Farm, Halifax Township, 42-acre crop farm
• Elizabeth S. Gault Farm, South Hanover Township, 40-acre crop farm
• Leonard B. and Jessica L. Sitlinger, Lykens Township, 30-acre crop farm
Franklin County, total investment: $1,053,223
• Brian D. and Michelle L. Brechbill, trustees, Brechbill Family Revocable Trust Farm; Guilford Township, 139-acre crop farm
• Wayne A. and Jackie M. Diehl Farm #2, Southampton Township, 60-acre crop and livestock farm
• Thomas L. and Heather M. Lesher Farm, Guilford Township, 78-acre crop and livestock farm
• Jay B. Shelly Farm, Peters Township, 150-acre crop and livestock farm
Lackawanna County, total investment, $79,248
• William A. Dixon and Marissa O’Donnell Opalka Farm #2, Benton Township, 12-acre crop and livestock farm
• Charles D. and Brenda J. Miller Farm #1, Newton Township, 29-acre crop farm
Lancaster County, total investment: $246,606
• Keith A. and Jenessa M. Frey Farm, Rapho Township, 59-acre crop farm
Lebanon County, had total
investment: $385,378,
• Franklin N., Jr. and J. Virginia Graybill, South Londonderry Township, 152-acre beef farm
Northampton County, total investment: $871,465
• Jacob R. and Amanda M. Klein, Forks Township, 43-acre crop farm
• Weinhofer Farms, LLC #2, Allen Township, 27-acre crop farm
Tioga County, total investment: $78,609
• Kiersten Anne Pino, trustee, Daniel J. and Gina L. Cooper Family Protection Trust Farm, Charleston Township, 51-acre crop farm
Union County, total investment: $846,864
• Criswell Acres, LLC Farm, Kelly Township, 113-acre crop farm
• David L, Rachel Z., Allen Z., and Dorothy M. Reiff Farm, Limestone Township, 97-acre crop and livestock farm
Washington County, total investment: $341,016
• Oren W. and Beth E. Smith Farm #2, Hopewell Township, 128-acre crop and livestock farm
Westmoreland County, total investment: $831,822
• Terrance J. Matty Farm, South Huntingdon Township, 117-acre crop and livestock farm
• Elaine M. McKlveen Farm #1, Ligonier Township, 52-acre crop farm
York County, total investment: $1,363,737
• Dale L. and Sondra L. Bentz, Warrington Township, 46-acre crop farm
• James E. Jr., Gloria A., and Brenda J. Eisenhour Farm #1, Warrington Township, 189-acre crop farm
• James E. Jr., Gloria A., and Brenda J. Eisenhour Farm #2, Washington Township, 182-acre crop farm
• Susan Lee Fox and Jeffrey Todd Van Voorhis Farm, Shrewsbury Township, 39-acre horse farm
To learn more about Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program, visit agriculture.pa.gov.
