COUNTY OF LEHIGH
Office of Public Information
Government Center
17
South Seventh Street
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18101-2401
Phone: 610-782-3001
Fax: 610-820-3615
Donald T.
Cunningham, Jr., County
Executive
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: CONTACT:
February 5, 2007 Frank
Kane
(610)
782-3001
Lehigh County Preserves 200th Farm
39 Acre Grape, Llama Farm
Propels County Past 200 Farm Milestone
Lowhill Township – Lehigh County Executive Don
Cunningham today announced the preservation of Lehigh County’s
200th farm. The Vista Farm in
Lowhill Township,
owned and operated by John Mosovsky and Mollie Mitke adds 38.96 acres to Lehigh County’s
preserved farmland.
From
the site of the Vista Farm, Cunningham emphasized his administration’s “Grow,
Sustain, Preserve” farming policy. “We
need to grow the number of farmers and acres farmed, help make farming
profitable for farmers already in business here, and preserve both our farmland
and our farmers for generations to come,” Cunningham said.
Lehigh County’s
farmland preservation program compensates farmland owners for giving up the
development rights to develop their farms.
In return for receiving a payment, landowners sign an agricultural
conservation easement document which legally preserves their land for future agricultural
use. Preserved farm properties remain in
private ownership subject to development restrictions. To date, the Lehigh County Farmland
Preservation Program has preserved 202 farms totaling 16,890 acres with perpetual agricultural
conservation easements.
Cunningham also
highlighted Lehigh
County’s plans to help
local farmers over the next three years of the administration. In the coming months, Lehigh County plans to
use a portion its largest farming asset, the 451-acre Seem Seed Farm, to
develop an incubator and demonstration farm that can be used as a statewide
model to help new farmers get started profitably. Also, in the next round of food service
contracts at the county nursing home and prison, vendors will be asked to use local
foods whenever possible.
Building on Lehigh
County’s record as the first county in Pennsylvania to pass Act 4 of 2006 last
year, which freezes millage rates on preserved farmland, Cunningham said that
this year, he will encourage Lehigh County’s constituent municipalities to do
the same. Lehigh County
also has plans to work with local farmers’ markets, grocery and food stores,
and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to increase direct sales of farm
products to local retailers to increase revenue for our local farmers.
New
applications for the program are now being accepted from qualified farmland owners
until March 31, 2007. To obtain an application or to find out more
information about the Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Program, call Jeff
Zehr, Farmland Preservation Specialist, at (610) 391-9583 ext.15.
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