The Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program was developed to strengthen Pennsylvania’s agricultural economy and to protect prime farmland. The Program incorporates the use of county, state, federal and local funds to purchase agricultural conservation easements on prime agricultural land from willing landowners. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program works by paying the farmer to place certain restrictions upon the land to maintain and permanently preserve high quality, functional farmland. The land continues to be the farmer’s private property and the farmer retains all privileges of land ownership, except the ability to sell the land for non-agricultural development or to develop the land for non-agricultural purposes. An agricultural conservation easement is permanent; therefore, if a landowner wishes to sell the land, the easement is transferred and the new landowner must continue to use the property exclusively for agriculture.