A 24.25-acre farm in Klingerstown, Upper Mahantongo Township, will be preserved after the Schuylkill County Commissioners voted to buy an agricultural easement.

By unanimous vote, commissioners bought an easement in perpetuity for the property of Carol Herb, Brenda Knorr, Joan Conrad, and Bensinger on Bensinger Road. An exact address was not available.

The cost to purchase was $48,500.

Money for the purchase comes from the tax on cigarettes, which is in part dedicated to the Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Fund. The county also sets aside money yearly.

Brittany Moore, agricultural coordinator with the Schuylkill County Conservation District, said the property scored very highly on a ranking scale.

She said it has “excellent soils” and very tillable acreage.

Its proximity to other purchased farms in the area also made it attractive, she said.

“We were glad to have it,” she said.

An application was made in 2019. The board approved in 2020.

Required documentation and other necessary paperwork took months to complete, she said.

To date, 111 easements have been approved amounting to 11,000 acres preserved countywide under the Schuylkill County Agricultural Land Preservation Board.

Moore said the average farm size is 100 acres. The largest farm obtained by easement is a 274 acre farm in Klingerstown.

Commissioner Barron “Boots” Hetherington said more than 70 farms are on the waiting list.

One or two farms are chosen annually, he said.