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27 The Barber/Floyd Farm, Rowan County conservation easement purchase by the LandTrust for Central North Carolina This "Legacy Farm" has been farmed by the same family for more than 200 years and is a candidate for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The family agreed to sell a agricultural conservation easement on 120 acres (combining a donation and purchase) for far less than half of the appraised value and intends to extend the easement over most of the whole 241 - acre farm in the near future. The family accepted an easement sale price of less than one -fifth of the estimated value of the non -farm development rights (in excess of $1 million). Other farm owners in the same general area are also interested in placing permanent conservation easements on their land holdings. The family maintains and lives in the historic farm house, with a complex of historic barns, cribs, sheds and grainaries. Located in a voluntary Agriculture Protection District and in the historic Barber Community (named after this farm), the land is just east of Cleveland, NC, and sits at the intersection of US Highway 70 and NC Highway 801. Within very short distance of the farm are several manufacturing plants, a truck transportation center, an active railroad line, the state's largest natural gas powered electricity production plant, and other commercial and residential properties. The farm is zoned industrial. Also nearby is the NC State Piedmont Agricultural Research Station, the historic Millbridge farming community, an active cattle market, and the farm home of outgoing NC Department of Agriculture Commissioner. Jim Graham. Most of the farm consists prime farming soils. The current owners are restoring the historic home and farm buildings and are reestablishing cattle operations along with the crop lands. Currently the farm produces a rotation of corn, barley, and soybeans. Not only is this a fully functional and successful working farm, but the natural beauty and historic significance of the property are inspiring. Farming operations can survive adjacent to an industrial complex. The first conservation easement covers the section of the farm next to US Highway 70.