UPPER HANOVER TOWNSHIP PA – A 22-acre crop and livestock farm owned by Robert A., Patricia M., and Samuel J. Borneman in Upper Hanover Township is now permanently dedicated to agricultural use.
State 131st House District Rep. Milou Mackenzie reports the farmland was enrolled in Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program. It ensures the property is safe-guarded from residential and commercial development, and will be used only for farming purposes.
The Bornemans’ land is one of 35 farms in 18 counties across the Commonwealth that received preservation approval in a recent vote of the State Agriculture Land Preservation Board. Its decision reportedly protects a total of 2,672 acres.
The board confirmation also increased the statewide total of protected farms to 6,564, representing 654,551 acres statewide. Pennsylvania is said to lead the nation’s remaining 49 states in farmland conservation.
More Local Farms Preserved in April
The new statewide total also includes several local farms that similarly received board approval during April. They were identified by the PA Department of Agriculture as:
- In Montgomery County, the Kirk Grater Farm #1, a 40-acre crop farm, in Lower Frederick Township; Gwinn G. Kent Farm #1, a 19-acre equine farm, in Upper Frederick Township; and the Paul and Jacquelyn P. Wagner Farm, an 84-acre crop farm, in Upper Frederick Township; and
- In Chester County, the John Frazier Hunt and Myrtrice Penelope McCaskill Farm, a 121-acre crop and livestock farm, in East Vincent Township.
“Preserving farmland is critical to sustaining our agricultural heritage, and supporting local food production,” Mackenzie says. “This program helps protect the rural character of our communities,” she adds. It also provides “farmers with the stability they need to continue their important work.”
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