Farmland Preservation
According to American Farmland Trust, North Carolina is the second most threatened state for farmland loss. From 2001 to 2016, North Carolina lost 732,000 acres of farmland. More than 75% of that land was converted to low-density residential land uses, which normally expand into existing agricultural areas and fragment farmable acreage. By 2040, North Carolina is projected to lose 1.2 million acres of cropland, woodland, and pastureland. That area is nearly the same size as the entire state of Delaware.
Even though a significant portion of North Carolina’s farmland has been lost in the last two decades, and the losses are expected to increase in the coming decades, there are efforts to preserve the State’s most valuable resource. The Farmland Preservation Division within the NC Department of Ag works to preserve working farms and forests in North Carolina and foster the growth and sustainability of family farms. Evan Davis, the Director of the Farmland Preservation Division, joined the NC Soil Health Coalition for our August Soil Health Hour to share the resources that are available to farms across the state.
The primary program offered by the Division is the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation (ADFP) Trust Fund. The Trust Fund provides funding to county governments and non-profit organizations for conservation easements, agricultural development projects, and agricultural plans. The Division also works to enact policies and strategies to protect working farms and forestland and acts as a clearinghouse for other local efforts such as Voluntary Agricultural Districts programs and county Farmland Protection Plans.
Most of the grants awarded through the ADFP Trust Fund are for agricultural conservation easements. These easements permanently remove the development rights from private land to protect its agricultural production capability. The land remains in private ownership and the easements transfer with the property if the land is ever sold or inherited. The right to farm, the right to privacy, timber harvest, and customary rural enterprises are all allowed under the easements.
So far, 36,023 acres across 54 counties have been protected using agricultural conservation easements in North Carolina. The purchase value of the conservation easements are determined by finding the difference between the current fair market value of the property and the new value of the property after the easement is finalized. The difference between those two values is the easement purchase value. The landowner is compensated for removal of the development rights from the property. The actual value differs for each property. The average price per acre in the western part of the state has varied from approximately $4,000 to $7,000 per acre, depending on the region. The average price per acre in the eastern and central parts of the state has varied from approximately $1,000 to $3,500 per acre.
If you are interested in pursuing a conservation easement for your own property, you need to first find an eligible county government or land trust that can receive the grant. There are land trusts serving nearly all areas of the state and many county Soil and Water Conservation Districts currently serve as easement holders. Building healthy soil requires the preservation of farmland, and conservation easements serve as one tool to ensure farmland is permanently protected in North Carolina. For further information, Evan Davis can be reached at evan.davis@ncagr.gov or you can contact the Farmland Preservation Division.
