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HARRISBURG PA - Eight area farms are among 33 properties, covering a total of 2,017 acres of prime farmland, that were officially preserved Thursday (Aug. 21, 2025) by the Pennsylvania Land Preservation Board.
Of the properties spread across 16 counties, five preserved were in Berks County, two in Montgomery County, and one in Chester County.
The board’s move to purchase development rights for all 33 represents an investment of $8.8 million between state and local governments. It protects the land from residential or commercial development, and is intended to ensure the acreage remains forever in agricultural use.
“Productive, high-quality farmland is one of Pennsylvania’s most valuable natural resources and economic assets,” state Agriculture Department Secretary Russell Redding says. “When farms are replaced by warehouses or housing developments, they are gone forever,” he adds.
The state reports that its nearly 50,000 farms contribute $132.5 billion to the economy, and support almost 600,000 jobs.
Secured in Berks County
Preserved in Berks County were the farms of:
- Daniel H. and Barbara H. Laudenslayer, a 48-acre crop farm in Oley Township;
- Morris A. and Donna M. Manley, a 46-acre equine farm in Douglass Township;
- Timothy Ray and Amy Beth Martin, a 51-acre crop and livestock farm in Tulpehocken Township;
- Howard J. and Jill Stark #2, a 58-acre crop and livestock farm in Rockland Township; and
- David G. and Ryan D. Zerr, a 68-acre crop farm in Spring Township.
Protected in Montgomery County
- Jersey Native #1, a 16-acre fruit and vegetable farm in New Hanover Township; and
- Gerald J. and Ruthann Sitko #1, a 39-acre crop farm in Lower Pottsgrove Township.
Preserved in Chester County
- William A. Hutchings III, an 18-acre equine farm in London Britain Township.
Other farms were permanently preserved in Armstrong, Bucks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Lycoming, Northampton, Schuylkill, Washington, and York counties.
Photo by Travels With The Post