The development rights for about another 100 acres of Lebanon County farmland has been purchased for perpetuity under the state’s agricultural preservation program.
The Shapiro administration recently announced that two Lebanon County farms were added to the program: Nancy L. Lane’s 52.89-acre crop and livestock farm in North Lebanon Township and Elvin G. and Nancy J. Nolt’s 46.85-acre hog operation in Millcreek Township.
Craig Zemitis, ag preservation specialist with the Lebanon County Conservation District, said these two easement purchases bring the total amount of land preserved in Lebanon County to 21,081.35 acres across 180-plus farms.
“Both properties will probably be preserved around March or April of 2025,” Zemitis noted.
The state partners with county and sometimes local governments and nonprofits to purchase development rights, ensuring a strong future for farming and food security. By selling development rights, farm owners ensure that their farms will remain productive farms and never be sold to developers.
Read More: Saving the land forever: Lebanon County farmland preservation program explained
These two farms were among 28 farms in 16 counties whose land will be preserved forever under the program, it was announced by the Shapiro administration. In Lebanon County, the farmland preservation program is administered by the Lebanon County Conservation District.
“Saving Pennsylvania’s fertile farmland for producing food, rather than losing it to warehouses and suburban sprawl is one of our biggest challenges,” said Russell Redding, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA). “Pennsylvania’s prime location near ports, interstates, railways, and 40 percent of the U.S. population means farmers face fierce competition from developers seeking to buy their land. The Shapiro Administration is investing, together with farm families and county and local governments, to feed our families and our economy now and in the future.”
In Lebanon County, landowners receive $2,500 per acre to preserve their farm properties forever. LebTown has previously reported a complicated formula that is calculated annually by the state to determine what the ratio is for state vs. county matching funds.
Zemitis told LebTown in April that the state match is traditionally around $1.30 per acre for every $1 invested by Lebanon County.
In 2025, Lebanon County should see a big uptick in the number of acres and farms preserved thanks to the generosity of Esther Martin, who willed $750,000 for farmland preservation in 2023 as part of her estate.
Read More: Three local nonprofit organizations to receive major gifts through local estate
Zemitis explained to LebTown earlier this year that those funds along with the state match would cut Lebanon County’s waitlist for entry into the farmland preservation program by half.
“We have enough funding to preserve 11 farms (of the 26 on the waiting list) in Lebanon County,” said Zemitis. “That doesn’t mean they will all get completed this year.”
Read More: Record number of Lebanon County farms to be preserved in 2024
Lebanon County typically has about $1 million for the program and, on average, about four farms totaling around 400 acres are preserved annually. When Martin’s funds are finally applied and matched by the state, the total number of acres being preserved in Lebanon County will triple to 1,200 acres, Zemitis said in April.
Meanwhile, the latest round of easement purchases multiply the impact of Pennsylvania dollars invested in conservation initiatives, including the $154 million Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program (ACAP), Clean & Green tax incentives, $13 million in Resource Enhancement and Protection tax credits, and historic levels of support for Pennsylvania farmers who are conserving and enhancing the clean water and healthy soil they need to be productive in the future, according to a PDA press release.
Pennsylvania leads the nation in preserved farmland. Since 1988, when voters overwhelmingly supported creating the state’s Farmland Preservation Program, Pennsylvania has protected 6,451 farms and 643,912 acres in 58 counties from future development, investing more than $1.7 billion in state, county, and local funds, according to state records reported by PDA.
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