Producer Panel Meets to Discuss Farm Transition Planning Need, Challenges

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Agricultural Preservation Board today voted to safeguard 3,346 additional acres on 36 farms from future development through the state's nationally recognized farmland preservation program.

The latest farms to be preserved are located in Berks, Blair, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Cumberland, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Union, Westmoreland and York counties.

During the program's 22-year history, 432,054 acres on 3,964 farms have been preserved for future agricultural production.

"Pennsylvania's commitment to preserving farmland is second to none nationally," said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. "Every citizen benefits from farmland preservation. Through increased food production, improved environmental stewardship and enhanced local economies, preserved farms represent the commitment producers have to their communities.

"I applaud those farmers who have taken this important step to protect their farm in perpetuity – meaning it will always remain available for agricultural production. It is with this kind of forward thinking that we can keep Pennsylvania growing."

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.

Following today's state board meeting, a producer panel met to discuss current agriculture issues, including the decisions of whether to preserve farmland, stay in business in a sluggish economy, or whether they should develop renewable energy resources.

The producers, all of whom own preserved farms, also discussed the need for farm succession planning and the assistance the Center for Farm Transitions can offer to find the next generation of farmers. A number of resources are available at the center's Web site, www.iplantofarm.com.

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

Editor's Note: A list of farms preserved at today's meeting follows:

Berks

• The David Benjamin KCS farm, Upper Bern Township, a 24-acre crop farm
• The William B. Downes Estate, Penn Township, a 207-acre crop and dairy operation
• The Neil and Audry Merkel farm, Albany Township, a 55-acre crop and nursery stock operation
• The Marian D. Sonday farm, Upper Bern Township, an 18-acre crop farm
• The Harold and Barbara Spatz and Harold and Carol Spatz farm, Centre Township, a 66-acre crop farm
• The Dana and Debra Stoudt farm, Jefferson Township, a 102-acre crop and dairy operation

Blair

• The Sarah J. Long farm, Tyrone Township, a 189-acre crop farm

Bucks

• The Guy and Catherine Coby farm, Richland Township, an 80-acre crop farm

Carbon

• The Grace Diehl farm, Franklin Township, an 82-acre crop farm

Chester

• The Raymond and Rhoda Harnish farm, Elk Township, a 59-acre crop farm
• The Melvin and Arlene Horst farm, Upper Oxford, a 61-acre crop farm
• The Melvin Kauffman farm, Sadsbury Township, a 103-acre crop farm
• The Joseph and Sandra Lusby farm, West Fallowfield Township, a 144-acre crop and dairy operation
• The Donald, Eric and Estace Walters farm, Elk Township, an 85-acre crop farm

Cumberland

• The James and Ingrid Deitch farm, Dickinson Township, a 61-acre dairy farm

Juniata

• The Dennis and Heidi Love farm, Tuscarora Township, a 132-acre crop and dairy operation

Lackawanna

• The Paul and Maureen Holevinski farm, Jefferson Township, a 63-acre beef and hay operation
• The Stanley and Joyce Wierzbicki farm, Greenfield Township, an 87-acre beef and hay operation

Lancaster

• The Randall and Jodie Brubaker farm, Rapho Township, an 85-acre crop and poultry operation
• The Charlotte Hoffines farm, East Donegal Township, a 28-acre crop farm
• The Eli and Hannah Lapp farm, East Drumore Township, a 120-acre heifer and crop operation
• The Toff and Linda Miller farm, Elizabeth Township, an 83-acre crop farm
• The Naomi Gorrell Trust, Colerain and East Drumore townships, a 108-acre crop farm

Lebanon

• The J Harold Bennetch farm, South Lebanon Township, a 131-acre crop and dairy operation
• The Ray and Linda Doutrich farm, South Lebanon Township, a 74-acre crop and poultry operation
• The George Krall farm, Heidelberg Township, an 89-acre crop farm
• The Henry Laudermilch farm, South Lebanon Township, a 49-acre crop farm
• The Rufus Laudermilch farm, South Lebanon Township, a 49-acre crop farm

Lycoming

• The Max Pauling farm, Washington Township, a 143-acre crop farm

Mifflin

• The J. Loren and Wanda Yoder farm, Union Township, an 84-acre crop farm

Montgomery

• The Harris and Marjorie Mosher #2 farm, Salford Township, a 69-acre beef and pasture land operation

Northampton

• The Virginia Finken Trust #2, Plainfield Township, a 56-acre crop farm

Perry

• The V. Arthur and Sharon Kling farm, Spring Township, a 76-acre crop farm

Union

• The Phares and Susan Reiff farm, Buffalo and East Buffalo townships, an 84-acre crop and dairy operation

Westmoreland

• The Ray, Jack and Larry Kinsey farm, Ligonier Township, a 180-acre maple sugar, sheep, crop and pasture operation

York

• The T. Edwin Johnson farm, Lower Chanceford Township, a 148-acre dairy and crop operation

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

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

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