The State of Farmland Preservation in Lancaster County
Knowing your commitment to preserving Lancaster County’s farmland, we are pleased to present a comprehensive report on farmland preservation just completed by Lancaster Farmland Trust.
Click here to read the full report.
The report is a compilation of information to show trends and raise awareness and is not intended to be a research paper. Lancaster Farmland Trust hopes this report will re-ignite a conversation about farmland preservation – what we’ve accomplished so far and, most importantly, what we envision for the future and how we achieve that vision.
For over 30 years, the Lancaster County community has demonstrated its deep commitment to honoring its heritage, protecting its farmland, and supporting its farmers. As crucial as farmland preservation was in the 1980s, it is much more critical now as we face a rapidly growing population and changing demographics. Support for farmers – to enable them to farm profitably – is the most important thing we can do as a community and a society. While so much about farming is out of our control, the one thing we can do is protect the land where our food is grown so that future generations can farm as their ancestors have.
From our perspective, this report demonstrates how far the county has come and where there is room for improvement. Lancaster Farmland Trust is proud to highlight the dedication of our community’s leaders to the preservation of one of our most valuable resources – farmland. We are likewise eager to support the growth of county and township programs to protect and preserve farmland.
Lancaster County is blessed with the most productive, non-irrigated farmland in the country. We have a responsibility to be good stewards of that resource. That’s why Lancaster Farmland Trust decided to undertake this project. We are grateful to all of the individuals and organizations that provided information, especially Tom Daniels, Ph.D., who collaborated on this report and without whom the report would not have been possible.
Watch: LNP Studio Panel Discussion – with community leaders and authors of the report discussing the future of land use and farmland preservation in Lancaster County.
Watch: LIVE Q&A – with LFT’s Executive Director, Karen Martynick, and our COO, Jeff Swinehart.
Listen: WITF Smart Talk – interview with LFT’s Executive Director, Karen Martynick, and our COO, Jeff Swinehart.
Read: LancasterOnline article – Farmland Trust calls for massive acceleration of money, effort to preserve farmland.