The Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board works with local farmers, the Armstrong County Commissioners, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Farmland Protection, to protect viable agricultural lands by obtaining agricultural conservation easements which prohibit the development or improvement of the land for any use other than agricultural production.  

Armstrong County was approved to purchase Agricultural Conservation Easements in December of 2003.   The Farmland Preservation Program is administered in Armstrong County by the Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board.   The Armstrong County Commissioners appoint the 7 members of the Board to serve 3 year terms.   The Farmland Preservation Board is made up of 3 members being active resident farmers of the county, 1 local building contractor, 1 local governing body of a municipality, and 2 “at large” members appointed from the community.  

County Commissioners

Patricia L. Kirkpatrick, Chairman

Richard L. Fink, Vice-Chairman

James V. Scahill, Secretary

Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board

Jeff Miller, Chairman

William Kronen, Vice-Chairman

Jim Chestnut, Secretary/Treasurer

Paul Stubrick

Ed Dilick

Spurgeon Shilling

Jeff Jones

Jessica Schaub, Farmland Preservation Program Coordinator

The Farmland Preservation Program encourages landowners to make a long-term commitment to agriculture by offering them financial incentives and security of land use.   In turn, farms are protected from non-farmland purposes which impair farming practices, and farmers are protected from public nuisance laws against normal farming operations.   The program provides compensation to landowners in exchange for them to voluntarily give up the right to develop their private property.

An agricultural conservation easement is an easement granted to a qualified entity so that the eased property is preserved as productive agricultural land for future agricultural use.   The holder of the conservation easement has the right to prevent development or improvement of the land for purposes other than agricultural production.   Although similar to “development rights”, the holder of the easement does not have the right to develop the property, or to transfer development to another location.   In other words, the holder of an agricultural easement has purchased the right to say “no” to development on the farm from which it was bought.   The land remains the private property of the landowner.   The landowner still can sell the property for agricultural use.  

In order to qualify: the farm must be located in an ASA consisting of at least 500 acres; have contiguous acreage of at least 50 acres in size or at least 10 acres in a crop unique to the area; have at least 50% of the property's soils available for agricultural production must be in Land Capability Classes I-IV; and at least 50% of the property's total acreage must be in current use as harvested cropland, pasture, or grazing land. The farm property offered for easement purchase must be a farm operation with a minimum one year of ownership and must demonstrate an ability to generate revenue equal or greater than $10,000. 

Applications are ranked using a two-part Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA).   The LESA looks at the quality of soils/site assessment, and considers local factors that my have an impact on the current or future viability of a farm.  

Once the farms are ranked and the funding is provided from the State, the land development rights are purchased form the highest-ranking farms.   After the farm is selected, the landowner is asked to deposit $1,500 towards the appraisal.  

An independent state certified general appraiser conducts an appraisal on the top ranked farm to determine the value of the conservation easement.   Based on the value determined by the independent appraiser, an offer to purchase is made by the Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board to the landowner.   If both parties are in agreement to the purchase price, the Farmland Preservation Board then drafts an Agreement of Sale for the Conservation Easement.   If the farmer decides to accept and sign an agreement with the Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board for the development rights, the Board submits a final application to the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Land Preservation Board.  

The State Agricultural Land Preservation Board makes a final award of the farm conservation easement based on the decision of the Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board and the amount of funding available for farmland conservation. It is highly recommended that landowner consult with a tax attorney or financial advisor prior to signing the Agreement of Sale.

Applications can be obtained and filed with the Armstrong Conservation District. The Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board reviews all applications for easement consideration.   The Armstrong County Agricultural Land Preservation Board meets every 1st Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm on the 1st floor in the Armsdale Administrative Building.