Additional 3,332 Acres Preserved on 31 Farms in 19 Counties

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's nation-leading farmland preservation program today set aside an additional 3,332 acres on 31 farms for permanent agricultural production, acting Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced.

In the program's 21-year history, 428,708 acres on 3,928 farms have been preserved for agricultural use in perpetuity, safeguarding them from development.

"Preserving farmland keeps Pennsylvania growing by maintaining and supporting the social, economic and environmental benefits of the state's agriculture industry," Redding said. "We must remain committed to our preservation efforts to ensure that our valuable agricultural land continues to produce affordable food and fiber for our state and nation."

The latest farms to be preserved are in 19 counties: Armstrong, Beaver, Berks, Bucks, Butler, Dauphin, Lancaster, Luzerne, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Montour, Somerset, Union, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland, Wyoming and York.

The state's farmland preservation program works through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program, which was developed in 1988 to help slow the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses. The program enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements, also called development rights, from owners of quality farmland.

Since the program's inception, state, county and local governments have invested more than $1 billion to preserve farms.

For more information about Pennsylvania's farmland preservation program, visit www.agriculture.state.pa.us and click on "Producers."

Media contact: Nicole L. C. Bucher, 717-787-5085

Editor's Note: The farms preserved at today's meeting are as follows:

Armstrong

• The Martha Morrison farm, a 133-acre beef operation

Beaver

• The Theodore and Debora Sockaci farm, a 69-acre crop farm

Berks

• The Elvin and Verna Brubaker farm, a 77-acre crop farm
• The Michael and Linda Forry farm, a 48-acre crop farm
• The Christopher and Melissa Johnson farm, a 16-acre crop farm
• The Paul and Kathryn Martin farm, a 28-acre crop farm
• The Amy, Dorothy, Harvey, Judy and Roy Oxenreider farm, a 27-acre crop farm
• The Frederic and Jan Thomson farm, a 52-acre equestrian and pasture land operation
• The Dalton and Dorothy Zimmerman farm, a 140-acre crop and dairy operation

Bucks

• The Michael and Marcia Farbotnik farm, a 72-acre crop farm
• The Michael and Amey Kramer farm, a 65-acre crop farm

Butler

• The Wayne and Wanda Hixon farm, a 73-acre dairy operation

Dauphin

• The Murray and Rhonda Laudenslager farm, an 89-acre crop and pasture land operation
• The Omar and Barbara Riehl farm, a 50-acre crop and livestock operation

Lancaster

• The Edward and Joy Sumpman farm, a 99-acre crop farm

Luzerne

• The Randall and Danielle Johnson and Katherine DiRenza farm, a 131-acre crop farm

Mercer

• The Daniel and Sherry Ealy farm, a 110-acre dairy operation
• The William and Bonnie McCullough farm, a 131-acre crop and beef operation

Mifflin

• The John and Beulah Kauffman farm, a 122-acre crop and dairy operation

Monroe

• The Glenn and Susan Yetter farm, a 97-acre crop and hay operation

Montour

• The C. Herbert Zeager farm, a 74-acre crop farm

Somerset

• The Robert and Janet Miller farm, a 172-acre crop and dairy operation

Union

• The Richard and Susan Krick farm, an 85-acre mixed row crop farm
• The Brian and Carrie Walter farm, a 60-acre mixed row crop farm

Washington

• The David and Barbara Carlisle farm, a 395-acre crop and cattle operation

Wayne

• The James and Julie Yatsonsky farm, a 121-acre cattle, crop and produce operation

Westmoreland

• The Robert and Leonora Kepple farm, a 148-acre crop and beef operation
• The Nick and Marian Yuris farm, a 119-acre dairy and crop farm
• The Karen Zucco farm, a 50-acre crop farm

Wyoming

• Omega River Farm, a 350-acre crop farm

York

• The Kenneth Moore farm, a 128-acre grain farm

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

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RELATED LINKS
http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us