Pa. uses $8.8M to preserve 33 farms

• LNP|LancasterOnline Staff
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Two Lancaster County farms are among 33 farms in 16 counties that will be preserved through an $8.8 million investment by local governments and the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Program.

State Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced the funding Thursday in Harrisburg.

More than 130 acres in western and southern Lancaster County will remain dedicated to agriculture in perpetuity after officials purchased the development rights from their owners.

The entirety of the $576,843 invested in preserving the two county farms came from the state.

The preserved farms are the 76-acre crop farm of Bryan L. and Julene E. Harnish in Martic Township, and the 57-acre crop farm of Jonathan D. Pickell in Mount Joy Township.

Berks and Northampton counties had the highest number of farms preserved at five each. York County had four, while Cumberland, Dauphin and Lebanon had one each.

Pennsylvania leads the nation in preserved farmland, according to the state Department of Agriculture. Since 1988, when voters overwhelmingly supported creating the state’s Farmland Preservation Program, Pennsylvania has protected 6,597 farms and 656,568 acres in 58 counties from future development, investing nearly $1.77 billion in state, county and local funds.

According to local agriculture officials, Lancaster County leads the state in farmland preservation. Over the past four decades, county government and partner organizations have preserved more than 1,600 local farms encompassing 124,000 acres.

Here’s the full list of farms that were preserved:

Armstrong County – Total investment – $128,200; state – $87,317; county – $40,883

Clayholm Farms #1, 64-acre dairy farm, West Franklin Township

Berks County – Total investment – $815,771; state – $483,621; county – $332,150

Daniel H. and Barbara H. Laudenslayer, 48-acre crop farm, Oley Township

Morris A. and Donna M. Manley, 46-acre equine farm, Douglass Township

Timothy Ray and Amy Beth Martin, 51-acre crop and livestock farm, Tulpehocken Township

Howard J. and Jill Stark #2, 58-acre crop and livestock farm, Rockland Township

David G. and Ryan D. Zerr, 68-acre crop farm, Spring Township

Bucks County – Total investment – $342,000; state – $202,750; county – $139,250

Mark R. and Justina M. Thomas, 27-acre crop farm, Bedminster Township

Chester County – Total investment – $91,542; state – $7,347; county – $84,195

William A. Hutchings, III, 18-acre equine farm, London Britain Township

Cumberland County – Total investment – $328,594; state – $318,594; county – $10,000

Catherine Jane Cornman, 74-acre crop farm, Penn Township

Dauphin County – Total investment – $45,041; state – $6,401; county – $38,640

Shawn J. Reed and Sherri D. Keiter-Reed, 22-acre crop farm, Jackson Township

Lackawanna County – Total investment – $64,603; state only

Walter P. Rosengrant, Jr. and Bonnie J. Rosengrant, 26-acre equine farm, Benton Township

Lancaster County – Total investment – $576,843; state only

Bryan L. & Julene E. Harnish #2, 76-acre crop farm, Martic Township

Jonathan D. Pickell #1, 57-acre crop farm, Mount Joy Township

Lebanon County – Total investment – $189,384; state – $89,862; county – $99,522

Paul R. Meyer, 73-acre crop and livestock farm, East Hanover Township

Lehigh County – Total investment – $977,722; state – $394,393; county – $500,759; Heidelberg Township – $82,570

Kevin W. and Kelly Ebert, 47-acre equine farm, Heidelberg Township

Dennis J.W. and Kathleen A. Haas, 32-acre miscellaneous crop farm, Lowhill Township

Adam and Daniel Marsteller, 27-acre crop farm, Upper Milford Township

George D. and Dawn M. Schmidt, 34-acre fruit and vegetable farm, Heidelberg Township

Lycoming County – Total investment – $249,633; state – $235,119; county – $14,514

Robert W. and Catherine E. Gardner, 193-acre beef farm, Franklin Township

Montgomery County – Total investment – $981,811; state – $975,125; county – $6,686

Jersey Native #1, 16-acre fruit and vegetable farm, New Hanover Township

Gerald J. and Ruthann Sitko #1, 39-acre crop farm, Lower Pottsgrove Township

Northampton County – Total investment – $1,946,836; state – $1,287,010; county – $659,826

Thomas R. and JoLynn Engler, 49-acre crop farm, Plainfield Township

Estate of Evelyn I. Spengler, 37-acre crop farm, East Allen Township

Jacob R. and Amanda M. Klein #2, 16-acre crop farm, Forks Township

James R. Poliskiewicz, Jr., 41-acre crop farm, Upper Mt. Bethel Township

Roger C. and Trudy P. Unangst #3, 50-acre crop farm, East Allen Township

Schuylkill County – Total investment – $555,740; state – $425,740; county – $130,000

Jerry L. and Edna F. Musser #1, 124-acre crop & livestock farm, South Manheim Township

Ivan S. and Darlene W. Newswanger #1, 145-acre crop and livestock farm, Wayne Township

Washington County – Total investment – $307,351; state only

David W. and Rachel E. Dinger, 98-acre crop and livestock farm, Deemston Borough

York County – Total investment – $1,229,884; state – $923,739; county – $306,145

Barley Farms #10, 50-acre crop farm, Chanceford Township

Barley Farms #11, 91-acre crop farm, Chanceford Township

Harold R. Miller, Jr.; Nancy B., Dean H. and Linda A. Miller #1, 87-acre crop farm, East Hopewell Township

Wayne B. Mummert, Jr. and Bernadette L. Mummert #1, 116-acre crop farm, Paradise Township