The Chester County Agricultural Land Preservation Board is accepting applications for two programs funded by the Chester County commissioners: the Commonwealth/County Program and the Chester County Challenge Grant Program. To date, over 590 farms totaling more than 45,000 acres have been preserved in Chester County through these programs.

Both programs offer funds to qualifying Chester County farm owners who are interested in preserving their farms. The county will pay farm owners for their development rights in exchange for a permanent agricultural conservation easement on their land. The owner will still own the land and can sell it or pass it on to the next generation, as long as it remains in agriculture.

Farms with 10 or more acres of tillable land are eligible for both programs if they are adjacent to other permanently preserved land. For farms not adjacent to permanently preserved land, the acreage minimums are 35 acres for the Commonwealth/County Program and 25 acres for the Challenge Grant Program.

The application deadline for both farm preservation programs is Friday, Aug. 1.

For more information, visit http://www.chesco.org/4618/Farmland-Preservation or contact Geoff Shellington at 610-344-6504 or gshellington@chesco.org.