Lancaster Farmland Trust

Farmland is what makes Lancaster County, Lancaster County. Together, let's save the Lancaster we love!

Lancaster County’s farms boast some of the richest, most productive agricultural soils in the world. More than 425,000 acres of them, in fact. Our fields and pastures are our county’s most valuable natural resource. Our farms provide us with so much more than corn and cows. They protect our watersheds. They recharge our groundwater and control flooding. Well-managed farmland improves air quality and provides food and cover for native wildlife and livestock. 

Since our start in 1988, Lancaster Farmland Trust has protected 610 easements across 37,685 acres. 

Save our farms. Before it’s too late.

Each year, Lancaster loses more than 3,000 acres of farmland to shopping malls, business complexes, warehouses, and housing developments. That’s eight acres today, eight acres tomorrow, and eight acres every day of the year. Lancaster Farmland Trust is dedicated to helping farmers of all backgrounds preserve their farms and way of life for future generations.

300,000 acres of Lancaster farmland are still unprotected. And with our county’s population projected to grow by 6.3% over the next 20 years, intense development pressure will continue to impact our community, making Lancaster one of the three hardest-hit counties in the state.

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Who We Are

Lancaster Farmland Trust (LFT) is dedicated to preserving and stewarding the beautiful, productive farmland of Lancaster County for present and future generations to enjoy. Since 1988, LFT has preserved 610 farms and more than 37,685 acres of farmland.

When a farm is preserved, it can never be developed for residential, industrial, or commercial use. Protecting farmland preserves our community’s way of life, provides bountiful, fresh, local foods, and opens the door to improving the health of local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay through on-farm conservation practices.

Our community is deeply rooted in agriculture and places special value on the land. The fields and pastures that make up these farms are valuable resources that serve more than ears of corn and cows. They also protect watersheds, recharge groundwater, and control flooding. Help us ensure the ‘price of progress’ is not paid by the fields and hands that feed us.