HARRISBURG, Pa. — Two Lehigh Valley farms have been preserved as part of a $12 million statewide effort to ward off development and protect open spaces.
The farms, both in Northampton County, were the latest to be included in the commonwealth’s Farmland Preservation Program, along with more than two dozen others across the state.
Through the program, farmers sell their development rights to the State Land Preservation Board, protecting the land from any future residential or commercial development.
Farms preserved were the Linda S. and Ronald C. Audenried Farm, a 24-acre crop farm in East Allen Township; and the Chad E. and Lori A. Bealer Farm, a 92-acre crop farm in Moore Township.
The total investment was just shy of $800,000, divided between state and county funds.Pa. Agriculture officials
The total investment was just shy of $800,000, divided between state and county funds.
Twenty-nine farms across the state were preserved in this latest round, totaling 3,187 acres in 17 counties.
“Pennsylvania has some of the most productive farmland in the nation,” state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said Thursday in a news release.
“When that land is lost to development, we lose one of our most valuable economic assets.
“The Shapiro Administration continues to stand up for Pennsylvania’s farmers by supporting the contributions they have made to seal our reputation as a national leader, and by investing to protect and improve the resources they need tomorrow, and the innovations that will keep PA on top.”
Since 1988, when the state’s Farmland Preservation Program was approved by voters, the commonwealth has protected 6,530 farms in 58 counties from future development, investing nearly $1.76 billion in state, county and local funds.
