Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Q <br />ARTICLE VII <br />CERTIFICATION AND QUALIFICATION OF FARMLAND <br />Requirements <br />To secure county certification as qualifying farmland, a farm must: <br />1. Be participating in the farm present- use -value taxation program established by <br />N.C.G.S. §105 -277.2 through §105- 277.7; <br />2. Be certified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly the Soil <br />Conservation Service) of the United States Department of Agriculture as being a farm <br />on which: <br />A. At least two- thirds of the land is composed of soils that: <br />1. Are best suited for providing food, seed, fiber, forage, timber, forestry <br />products, horticultural crops and oil seed crops; <br />2. Have good soil qualities; <br />3. Are favorable for all major crops common to the county where the <br />land is located; <br />4. Have a favorable growing season; and <br />5. Receive the available moisture needed to produce high yields for an <br />average of eight out of ten years. <br />W1 <br />B. At least two thirds of the land has been actively used in agricultural, <br />horticultural or forestry operations as defined by N.C.G.S. § 105 -277.2 <br />(1,2,3) during each of the five previous years, measured from the date on <br />which the determination must be made as to whether the land in question <br />qualifies. <br />3. Be managed in accordance with the Natural Resources Conservation Service defined <br />erosion - control practices that are addressed to highly- erodible land if highly erodible <br />land exist on the farm; and <br />4. Be the subject of a conservation agreement, as defined in N.C.G.S. §121 -35, between <br />the county and the owner of such land that prohibits non -farm use or development of <br />such land for a period of at least ten years, except for the creation of not more than three <br />lots that meet applicable county.zoning and subdivision regulations. <br />6 <br />