Latest Farmland preservation Stories
Two Workshops to be Held May 20 in Lebanon County HARRISBURG, Pa., May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Farm owners who have sold their development rights to preserve the land they work in perpetuity are invited to two free workshops in Lebanon County that are focused on keeping that land profitable, said Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding today. The workshops, one of which will also address the need to plan for transitioning the farm once an owner retires, are scheduled for May 20 at...
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Marking the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding today praised Pennsylvania's farmers for striving to conserve natural resources and reduce pollution flowing into the state's waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. During a visit to Chester County, Redding helped plant trees on a stream bank at Mason's Chrome View Dairy in Nottingham and reviewed conservation best management practices in place at the John C....
Board Preserves 4,225 Acres on 47 Farms HARRISBURG, Pa., June 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said prime farmland in 19 counties will continue to be viable for agriculture production thanks to today's action by the Agricultural Preservation Board to protect an additional 4,225 acres on 47 farms. In its 21-year history, Pennsylvania's nationally recognized farmland preservation program has safeguarded 418,880 acres on 3,828 farms from development....
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Prime farmland in 14 counties will remain viable for future agricultural production through today's action by the Agricultural Preservation Board to protect an additional 2,928 acres on 37 farms, said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. In its 21-year history, Pennsylvania's nationally recognized farmland preservation program has safeguarded 414,720 acres on 3,782 farms from development. "Agriculture is Pennsylvania's leading economic...
HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Agricultural Preservation Board today approved the preservation of an additional 4,682 acres on 48 farms through the state's nationally recognized Farmland Preservation Program. Since 1988, 411,892 acres on 3,745 farms have been safeguarded from development and will remain viable for future agricultural production. "Pennsylvania is committed to maintaining our excellence in production agriculture today while securing...
State Preserves More Than 30,000 Acres of Valuable Farmland in 2008 HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An additional 4,236 acres of Pennsylvania farmland will remain viable for agricultural production now that the state has preserved another 40 farms, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said today. In all, Wolff said the state's nationally recognized Farmland Preservation Program preserved 30,230 acres on 308 farms in 2008. "Pennsylvania is committed to securing our...
By RICHARD COWEN, STAFF WRITER Andy Borisuk has been farming in Vernon since 1961 watching the cornstalks grow high when rainfall was plentiful, watching them wither during a drought. During those 47 years, he says he's learned two things: Trust Nature. Don't trust the government. "Nature has its own way of working things out," Borisuk said. "The government, if they don't have the money to buy your land, they steal it through regulation." Borisuk, 78, echoes the...
By Chad Umble Lancaster County Commissioners today added 253.69 acres of farmland on three farms to its preservation tally, bringing to 78,437 the number of agricultural acres preserved here. Through its Agricultural Preserve Board, the county buys preservation easements from farmers, essentially paying them to give up the right to ever develop their property. At their meeting this morning, commissioners authorized spending $605,719.50 to preserve farms in East Cocalico and Strasburg...
By Kathy Kellogg A committee of the Cattaraugus County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board will take the next few months to study farmland preservation through state and federally funded purchase of development rights. The board met Tuesday with Diane Held of the American Farmland Trust and discussed ways to fund the county's 2007 Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan. Held told them one out of four applicants are successful in getting state and federal funding for purchase of...
By Richard Robbins, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa. Aug. 3--When Betty Reefer, the head of farmland preservation in Westmoreland County, ventures from her office near Greensburg, she is often taken aback by sights she never envisioned: Gas wells dotting grazing land and access roads crossing fields of corn. "I get very emotional about this," said Reefer, who has been in her job since the farmland preservation program opened in Westmoreland County 15 years ago. "This is certainly not what I...
