Farmland preservation in PA

In my last post I complained that Pennsylvania had a minimum of 50 acres for a farm to be considered for the preservation program unless the farm adjoined already preserved land.  Then the limit was ten.  Small farms were shut out.

My friend Tom, who makes a living on a farm under ten acres, explained to me that in New York and New Jersey the eligibility limit for the preservation programs is five acres.  In New Jersey apiaries of even less than five acres are eligible for preservation.

In my own county, Carbon, a number of farmers have applied for the our state’s preservation program and would qualify under the existing law, but there is not enough money allocated to purchase the development rights.  In the meantime, “development” takes place and the demands for schools, roads, garbage pickup, and other services increase beyond the incremental tax revenues.  In addition, our built environment is really depressing.  Towamensing, once the home of family farms, is now the home of sprawl, and it is getting worse.  I have come to hate the sound of bulldozers and backhoes and carpenters.