BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Two Lehigh Valley farms have been preserved as part of a $8.07 million statewide effort to ward off development and protect open spaces.
“Real estate is all about location,” state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a Thursday news release. “Pennsylvania’s prime location — near ports, interstates, railways and 40 percent of the U.S. population — brings fierce competition from developers who will pay top dollar.
“Protecting our prime farmland from becoming warehouses, housing developments or parking lots is one of the most important investments government and farmers make together, not just for our food supply, but our quality of life and our future prosperity.”
The farms, both in Northampton County, were the latest to be included in the commonwealth’s Farmland Preservation Program, along with more than a dozen others across the state. Through the program, farmers sell their development rights to the state’s State Land Preservation Board, protecting the land from any future residential or commercial development.
The total investment for both farms was $871,465, divided between state and county funds, according to the news release. Farms preserved included Jacob R. and Amanda M. Klein, a 43-acre crop farm in Forks Township, and Weinhofer Farms LLC #2, a 27-acre crop farm in Allen Township.
Farms across the state were preserved in this latest round, totaling 2,250 acres on 28 farms in 15 counties.
Since 1988, when the state’s Farmland Preservation Program was approved by voters, the commonwealth has protected 6,364 farms and 636,625 acres in 58 counties from future development, investing more than $1.7 billion in state, county and local funds.
