Story #63 - Agriculture Preservation

Story #63 is about SSM’s experience supporting agriculture preservation through surveying services.

Over the past 20 years, SSM has provided more than 400 Agricultural Land Preservation Easement Surveys. Our team has surveyed and helped to preserve over 30,000 acres of Berks County Farmland.

An agricultural conservation easement is a permanent legal restriction on land development that limits future uses of land to agricultural purposes.

Our survey team provides services that combine land record research and a physical property survey and inspection. They identify existing easements associated with the land and any structures on the property that are present as a result of easements (utility pipelines, roadways, transmission wires and access points on the land). Our team utilizes conventional survey methods, GPS systems along with drone flight data to complete the surveys. Easement Survey plans and legal descriptions are drafted and become part of the final recorded documents for the project.