Butler County is one of 57 counties enrolled in the Farmland Preservation Program.

The state Agricultural Land Preservation Board established minimum requirements to qualify for the program. The Butler County Agricultural Land Preservation Board has an approved guideline book that must be followed.

Land is evaluated on the following terms:

• It must be included as part of a duly recorded agricultural security area.

• Land must have at least 50 percent of its soils available for agricultural production that are Capability Classes I-IV, as defined by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA.

• It must contain at least 50 percent or 10 acres of harvested cropland, pasture or grazing lands.

• The land must have at least 50 contiguous acres unless the tract is at least 10 acres and either utilized for a crop unique to the area or is contiguous to a property which has a perpetual easement in place.

• Also considered are the applicant’s stewardship of the land, conservation practices, best management practices, nutrient management and erosion and sedimentation control.

An applicant must submit an entire parcel as identified on the Butler County assessment maps.

After an application has been submitted, it must be checked to make sure all minimum requirements are met.

The application will be scored using Butler County’s land evaluation assessment system.

Farms are ranked by the quality of soils, development of farmland and clustering potential.

After applications are ranked each February, the top farms are appraised. All applications are subject to the availability of funding. The farmer must then deposit $1,800 for the appraisal. The deposit will be refunded if the applicant does not sever the contract of sale and does accept an offer equal to the appraised value of the conservation easement.

The appraisal report will provide the Butler County Agricultural Land Preservation Board with an estimate of the value of the easement, which is the difference between the market value and farmland value.

The farm will be surveyed to determine the exact acreage.

Interested landowners have until Jan. 31 to submit an application for the preservation program. Call 724-284-5270.

Ron Fodor is manager of the Butler County Conservation District.