Lehigh County farmland owners will have a second opportunity this year to apply for participation in the county’s farmland preservation program.

Applications will be accepted until July 1.

The county is developing a new Municipal Farmland Preservation Partnership Program to leverage county and commonwealth farmland preservation funding to preserve more farmland.

This program will provide county matching funds to townships offering their own farmland preservation match funding.

The new deadline will make it easier for townships to budget in the fall to assist with the preservation of farms in their municipalities.

Farmland owners who preserve their farms receive payment in return for giving up their development rights.

The farms are protected in perpetuity with agricultural conservation easements, a legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a land trust that permanently protects land for agricultural use by prohibiting other non-compatible land uses.

Applicants’ farms are ranked and prioritized using a farmland evaluation system that takes many factors into consideration including soil quality, farm size, land use, zoning and proximity to other preserved farms.

As of May 1, Lehigh County has preserved 267 farms with 21,693 acres of land protected with perpetual agricultural conservation easements.

For an application form and more information, call Diane Matthews-Gehringer at 610-391-9583 ext. 14.