Dillner Family Farms in West Deer has become the 40th farm in Allegheny County to be protected by a conservation easement.
Following the state Department of Agriculture’s decision in October to support the farm, the Allegheny County Conservation District and county Agriculture Lands Preservation Board made the preservation official Monday.
“We look forward to continue serving the area with fresh, nutritious produce for years to come,” said Jonathan Dillner, one of the farm owners. “Preservation will keep our family-run farm a farm for generations to come.”
Dillner Family Farms is a 79-acre fruit, vegetable and livestock operation owned by Don and Jane Dillner since 1991. The farm also operates a community supported agriculture program and farm market.
Jonathan Burgess, the county’s conservation district program administrator, said the preservation ensures the farm can never be developed and will have to stay in agriculture use. The organization will inspect the farm as part of state regulations every other year to make sure the farm continues to comply, Burgess said.
He said the organization strives to preserve one to two farms a year.
The Allegheny County Conservation District and the Agriculture Lands Preservation Board have preserved more than 4,000 acres to ensure a future of farming.
The total preserved acreage in the Allegheny Valley is larger than North Park and Boyce Park, according to a county news release.
Family farms operate under circumstances that are out of their control or unpredictable, such as climate change or market shifts, the conservation district’s Executive Director Heather Manzo said.
“The Farmland Preservation Program reduces burdens by providing opportunities for farmers to reinvest in and modernize their operations while making a commitment to the future,” she said.
In October, the state Department of Agriculture announced its investment into 21 farms.
Dillner Family Farms, the only farm in Allegheny County named in that group, received nearly $700,000 to preserve the property as farmland through a permanent conservation easement.
Burgess described an easement as when the farmers give up their development rights to the state. In this case, this is an agricultural conservation easement, meaning the land will be used for farming purposes only. The farm cannot be sold, divided or developed.
To help offset potential loss from giving up development rights of their land, farmers have the choice to receive the proceeds from easement sales in a lump sum payment, installments up to five years or on a long-term installment basis. Some farmers may decide to use the proceeds to reduce debt , expand operations or pass on farms to the next generation.
Jane Dillner said since the October announcement, the farm has added four new greenhouses and will open its market April 30.
She said, “we are excited” about the future and the plans to expand the farm.
