Agricultural land in Cumberland County is increasing in value to the point where the trend could someday impact the future of a program designed to preserve farmland.
“We’re keeping an eye on it,” said Vince DiFilippo, the county commissioner who serves as a liaison to the Agricultural Land Preservation Board. “We don’t know yet if this is causing a decrease in applications.”
The concern is that land value could eventually exceed the $4,000-per-acre cap the board can offer property owners willing to preserve farmland under the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, DiFilippo said.
This could remove a major incentive for property owners to apply for the program. Board members rank each application based on soil quality, development pressure and the proximity of the applicant’s farmland to preserved farms already in the program.
By selling their development rights, landowners ensure that their farms will remain farms and never be sold to developers. Farm families often sell their land at below market value, donate additional land, or agree to conservation practices to leverage additional federal and state money to preserve more family farms.
Source: cumberlink.com
Photo Credit: gettyimages-richard-7
Categories: Pennsylvania, General