HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board has safeguarded 2,359 additional acres on 26 farms in 13 counties through the state’s farmland preservation program.

The board preserved farms in Berks, Butler, Chester, Crawford, Cumberland, Erie, Juniata, Lancaster, Lycoming, Northampton, Perry, Union and York counties.

Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have invested more than $1.2 billion to preserve 486,628 acres on 4,558 farms in 57 counties for future agricultural production.

In Butler County, the Steven Lange farm, a 118-acre crop and livestock operation, was safeguarded.

“Our farmland preservation program’s success is the partnership between government, nonprofit organizations and the producers who enroll their land in the program,” said Agriculture Secretary George Greig. “Working together, we’re preserving Pennsylvania agriculture for generations of farm families to come.”

The board approved at the meeting a $30 million state funding threshold for 2014 easement purchases. Counties across Pennsylvania have certified $16.6 million for farmland preservation in 2014.

For more information, visit www.agriculture.state.pa.us and search “farmland preservation.”