A 90-acre crop and livestock farm in the county is among 30 farms in 19 counties recently added to the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Program, which creates permanent agricultural easements that prevent land from residential, commercial and industrial development.

James and Jo Ann Riddle’s 90-acre farm No. 3 in the county is among the farms added to the program.

The state Department of Agriculture invested $370,435 and the county added $7,000 to purchase the easement on the Riddle farm, according to the department.

Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have purchased permanent easements on 5,899 Pennsylvania farms, totaling 599,132 acres.