§205-43 Important agricultural lands; policies. State and county agricultural policies, tax policies, land use plans, ordinances, and rules shall promote the long-term viability of agricultural use of important agricultural lands and shall be consistent with and implement the following policies:
(1) Promote the retention of important agricultural lands in blocks of contiguous, intact, and functional land units large enough to allow flexibility in agricultural production and management;
(2) Discourage the fragmentation of important agricultural lands and the conversion of these lands to nonagricultural uses;
(3) Direct nonagricultural uses and activities from important agricultural lands to other areas and ensure that uses on important agricultural lands are actually agricultural uses;
(4) Limit physical improvements on important agricultural lands to maintain affordability of these lands for agricultural purposes;
(5) Provide a basic level of infrastructure and services on important agricultural lands limited to the minimum necessary to support agricultural uses and activities;
(6) Facilitate the long-term dedication of important agricultural lands for future agricultural use through the use of incentives;
(7) Facilitate the access of farmers to important agricultural lands for long-term viable agricultural use; and
(8) Promote the maintenance of essential agricultural infrastructure systems, including irrigation systems. [L 2005, c 183, pt of §2]