The Farm Vitality Planning Grants can be used to offset the costs of working with consultants to develop business plans, transition/succession plans, plans for expansion and more
Read More“Over 30 years ago, Lancaster County had the foresight to begin investing in the future and preserving its agricultural land for perpetuity,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “It was programs like this that were top of mind when Governor Wolf first proposed the PA Farm Bill early this year.”
Read MoreToday, Secretary Russell Redding joined farmers and equipment dealers to announce the availability of $13 million in Pennsylvania tax credits for on-farm conservation efforts.
Read MoreSecretary Russell Redding today notified farmland owners in Lackawanna and Wayne counties that they are eligible to receive disaster relief funding from the United States Department of Agriculture. Also eligible are the adjacent counties of Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, and Wyoming.
Read More“Our diversity as a state extends far beyond our people to our geography, our products, our production styles, and the options that our land can be used for,” said Redding. “It’s important to take pause and consider the implications of transforming farmland into developed land, which is what our state board and hundreds of other administrators and volunteers across the state deliberate on as well. With this meeting, 38 farm families have entered into a covenant that ensures that more than 2,700 acres will remain in production agriculture – a win for all Pennsylvanians for many decades to come."
Read More“The time to act is now,” said Martin Lemos, the Coalition’s Interim Executive Director. “Agriculture is a major industry in Pennsylvania but the future of farming in the Commonwealth is at risk. As the average age of farmers continues to climb, we must do more to enable the next generation of farmers to steward our land.”
Read MoreThe board preserved 47 farms covering 3,561 acres across 21 counties: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Lycoming, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Schuylkill, Tioga, Union, and Westmoreland. Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county, and local governments have purchased permanent easements on 5,540 farms totaling 569,767 acres in 59 counties for agricultural production
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