Testimony of Samuel E. Hayes

Secretary

Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

before the

U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture

Regarding the Reauthorization of the

Federal Farmland Protection Program

July 21, 1999

Good morning, Mister Chairman: distinguished members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on the reauthorization of funding for the Federal Farmland Protection Program. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is indeed a leader in Farmland Preservation in the nation. Our program, now in its 11^th year of operation has been viewed as a model by many other states.

In 1987, the voters of Pennsylvania overwhelmingly approved a $100 million bond issue to fund the purchase of development rights. I was proud to serve on the Legislative Conference Committee that wrote the Farmland Preservation Law (Act 149 of 1988).

The first conservation easements were purchased in December, 1989 in Lancaster County. Almost nine years later we celebrated the preservation of our 1000^th farm in that same county. Today Pennsylvania has permanently preserved 139,406 acres on 1118 farms in 41 counties. While this is the second greatest total of any of the 15 state-funded farmland preservation programs in the nation, our rate of preservation is unequaled. According to recent American Farmland Trust data, Pennsylvania has approximately 21% of all the farmland preserved through the purchase of development rights in the nation.

Funding for the Pennsylvania program has included revenue from the $100 million bond issue, dedicated revenue from two cents of the state cigarette tax (providing approximately $22 million annually), and most recently, Governor Ridge and our state lawmakers included $43 million in the state budget for fiscal year 1999 - 2000. This "supplemental" Farmland Preservation funding will help Pennsylvania address the existing backlog of farmer applications for the program. A recent survey of all participating counties found that there are 1571 farmers with applications pending before county agricultural land preservation boards. With current state funding from the cigarette tax and county matching funds we can preserve approximately 150 farms per year. The "supplemental" state funding will permit Pennsylvania to preserve approximately 170 additional farms for a total of 320 farms.

The Federal Farmland Protection Program authorized by the 1996 Farm Bill was a milestone in the effort to permanently preserve farmland - it provided the first appropriation of Federal dollars to assist state and local farmland preservation programs. I wish to acknowledge the leadership of Senator Rick Santorum in securing approval of this program in the Farm Bill. Pennsylvania has received nearly $3.3 million in Federal funding from the Farmland Protection Program. This has assisted the Commonwealth, eight counties and one township in the preservation of 11,418 acres of farmland. Clearly, the Federal Farmland Protection Program has been a success!

As a result of the success of the Farmland Protection Program, Pennsylvania has enjoyed the many benefits associated with farmland preservation. Protecting farmland has signaled a strong commitment to up coming generations of Pennsylvania farmers in helping to ensure agriculture remains viable in the future. The Farmland Protection Program has worked to strengthen existing environmental and conservation efforts. Whether acquiring land to farm on or to protect and buffer existing farmland, the program has helped improve environmental quality, curb urban sprawl, and create green space. The Farmland Protection Program has provided us the ability to maintain the historic landscapes and scenic beauty of many regions throughout the Commonwealth, while improving soil health and water quality. The success Pennsylvania has enjoyed for over a decade under the program has produced immeasurable benefits in environment and water quality both in the Commonwealth and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Pennsylvania strongly supports the effort to reauthorize funding for this program. Reauthorization would allow us to continue to address our backlog situation in a positive way and it would further the excellent partnership developed over the past three years.

We strongly support proposals to accomplish reauthorization, provide a significant level of funding for the program, encourage closer coordination between NRCS State Offices and state farmland preservation programs in the farm selection process, and direct more resources to existing state and local government programs.

We believe the Federal Farmland Protection Program has been a success story and a model partnership-building example. I strongly encourage reauthorization of this program.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to present these comments for your consideration.