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14 <br />(Rogers) is a tobacco farm. Common to each farm are the same basic <br />crops -corn, small grains, and sorghum -and pasture land. However, <br />each farm is representative of a different portion of the county. <br />The Walters and Rogers farms are representative of the <br />northern portion of the county, being located in Cedar Grove <br />Township. While the other three farms are located in the central <br />and southern portions, they are different. The Nutter farm is <br />located in dairy -rich Bingham Township. The Hogan farm is located <br />to the north of Carrboro, directly in the path of that growing <br />community. The Strayhorn farm is located midway between Chapel Hill <br />and Hillsborough, and is subject to more development pressure from <br />I -40 than any of the other farms. <br />Based on the calculations shown on Table 4, the Walters (97) <br />farm ranked the highest for acquisition of development rights, <br />followed by the Hogan (94), Nutter (90), Strayhorn (84), and Rogers <br />(81) farms. Each of the three dairy farms consisted of <br />predominantly group 1 soils, accounting for scores of 90 or higher. <br />Percentage -wise, however, the Walters farm contained fewer soils in <br />groups 2 -7 and rated the highest. The Strayhorn and Rogers farms <br />rated lower, because of the greater proportion of group 2 and group <br />3 soils. <br />The evaluation of cropland quality is not the only basis for <br />ranking farmlands for acquisition of development rights. In the <br />following sections, techniques for evaluating forest or woodland <br />quality and assessing the economic viability of a site for <br />agricultural use are presented. it is the combination of the three <br />techniques which ultimately determine where a site falls on the <br />rating scale. <br />