Pennsylvania is leading the nation in farmland preservation by the number of farms and total acres being preserved for agriculture.

The Bureau of Farmland Preservation administers the commonwealth's program, called the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program, which has been creating agricultural easements since 1989.

How can you preserve a farm?

First you need to have your farm claimed as part of an Agricultural Security Area, or ASA, which is done by a petition to your local township supervisors to crease the ASA. Applications for the farmland preservation program may then be made every year in January for Butler County farmers. The next deadline for an easement application in Jan. 31, 2007.

After receiving an application, each farm is evaluated against other parcels of land under the criteria of:

• Quality of farmland — The regulation is that easements can be purchased on farms with a minimum of 50 acres.

Parcels of 10 acres and higher may be preserved adjacent to existing preserved farmland or used for production of specialty crops (unique to the area). At least half of the tract must either be harvested cropland or grazing land and it must be considered land that can be farmed.

• Likelihood of conversion — The farmland is ranked for other uses beside agricultural based on proximity of farm to sewer and waterlines, extent and type of non-agricultural uses nearby, amount and type of agricultural use in the vicinity and the amount of other preserved farmland in proximity.

A licensed appraiser will determine the agricultural and market value of land to determine the value of the conservation easement.

There are currently 29 farms preserved inButler County. The easement program is competitive because funding is limited. Excellent soil quality and growing development pressure will help a farm rank high on the evaluation.

The entire process from submitting the application to actual closing may take longer than a year. Farms must be ranked, selected, appraised and surveyed. Paperwork is then sent to the Bureau of Farm Preservation Board for final approval.

The program's benefits protect a way of life, agricultural landscapes, sources of local food and the farming economy. Land will continue to be utilized for development, but we still need to preserve farmland for future generations.