4 Berks farms preserved

Four Berks County farms totaling 290 acres have been permanently preserved.

An announcement from the state Department of Agriculture on Thursday revealed the farmland in Berks is among 1,969 acres on 26 farms across 12 counties slated for protection from commercial, industrial or residential development through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program.

“Pennsylvania farmers face tremendous pressure to sell their valuable land to developers,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a written statement. “Many of these families have farmed through generations of hardships and uncertainty, but they are committed to ensuring their legacy continues and Pennsylvania has the resources to feed future generations.”

By selling their land’s development rights, landowners preserve their farms, protecting the land from future residential, commercial or industrial development. Farm families often sell their land at below market value to ensure it will remain farmland.

Pennsylvania partners with county and sometimes local governments and nonprofits to buy the development rights, ensuring a strong future for farming and food security.

The four Berks farms were purchased with $643,649 in state money and $135,900 from the county. The following farms will be preserved:

• The Leon and Linda Burkholder and Aaron W. Nolt Farm, a 71-acre crop and livestock farm. • The Ammon N. and Edna S. Leid Farm, a 60-acre crop and livestock farm. • The Daniel H. & Kristine W. Schuler Farm #2, a 126-acre crop farm. • The Richard C. Wolf Farm, a 33-acre crop farm.

Redding said the state is home to some of the most fertile, non-irrigated soil in the nation, and lauded the success in protecting prime farmland.

“This is one of our most important investments in feeding our families and our economy in years to come,” Redding said.

To date, the state has preserved a total of 6,004 farms and 608,091 acres.