55 Acres Of Montgomery Co. Farmland Preserved By The State

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A 55-acre farm in Montgomery County was one of 47 conserved by the state in an auction on Thursday.

Drew and Holly Bechtel's crop and dairy farm, in Harleysville, will now be permanently protected.

The farms were preserved through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program.

"Preserving farmland is a team effort among diverse groups united in our effort to spare the state’s best agricultural soils from development,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a statement. "Together we help farmers to take an important step toward securing a future for their operations. This meeting is the culmination of an important chapter in the stories of 47 farm families from all corners of Pennsylvania."

Program funding allows state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements from owners of quality farmland. State, county, local, and federal funds committed at today's meeting are allocated to county programs to purchase development rights to preserve farms on county waiting lists.

All told, the program has preserved 569,767 acres in 59 counties since it began in 1988.