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agricultural Districts Advisory Board Background Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board Background I Members Background Page 1 of 3 The Agricultural Preservation Board (APB) is an advisory board of citizens appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. The APB was created in 1987, and charged with advising the Board of County Commissioners on issues affecting the agricultural. economy of Orange County. Based on recommendations from a 1981 agricultural task force report To Preserve Our Farms, APB drafted a local farmland preservation ordinance that would establish voluntary agricultural districts. The first voluntary agricultural district was designated by the Board of County Commissioners in 1992. Since the designation of the initial district, 2,894 acres have been certified as qualifying farmland, and six farms totaling 1,670 acres have completed all prerequisites for official voluntary agricultural district designation. In recent years, the Agricultural Preservation Board has focused on a more comprehensive approach to farmland preservation. They held a public forum with representatives of the Ar ericann Farmland Trust and the Agricultural Reserve Board of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and organized a series of staff training workshops involving County planning and agriculture staff in the use of voluntary conservation easements as a means of farmland preservation through estate planning. APB is currently studying, along with other advisory boards, a Land Resource Acquisistion Program for the County. In January 1998, APB and the Soil and Water Conservation District Board conducted an agricultural survey of all county farmers, agriculturists, and farming- related businesses. The survey helped identify the most critical needs and issues of the agricultural community. In February 1999, the APB participated in the first Agricultural Summit. Over 100 participants from all sectors of Orange County agriculture Beard presentations by farmers who have successfully diversified their operations, as well as presentations in organic production, land use taxation, farm conservation strategies, and an overview of the recently announced tobacco industry settlement and establishment of trust funds to help tobacco growers and communities. The APB will enter the year 2000 by addressing agriculture and economic development issues, and working with the Land Resource Acquisition Program to identify the most important farmland areas for preservation. Also, the APB will continue its involvement in forthcoming Agricultural Summits, working with farmers, citizens and elected officials to build a new consensus for farmland preservation. http: / /www.co.orange.ne.us /ercd /apb/board.htm 4/9/2003