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North Carolina Sustainable Agriculture

Pigeon Forge, TN

November 12, 2010

Jerry Dorsett

NC DENR, Office of Conservation, Planning & Community Affairs, 585 Waughtown Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27107 – ph. 336-771-4945

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Working lands owners, what will keep the next generation on the

land???

31 million acres

North Carolina31 million acres of land90% privately owned

1/3 of land is in agriculture9 million people – 10th

2 largest Ag. Counties in U.S. - - - 80 commodities

17% of NC jobs

$72 billion of the NC economy is Agriculture

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Farms Support the N.C. Economy

Tourism / Traditional Way of Life!

Housing Density, 1970, North Carolina

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Housing Density, 2010, North Carolina

Housing Density, 2030, North Carolina

.…. 3 million new residents = Average Loss 2 acres open space per person

USDA’s 2007 Census of Agriculture revealed that total land in farms in North Carolina decreased 7%, or about 600,000 acres, since 2002.

Source: North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, 2010. “Agricultural Statistics Highlights” Available at: http://www.ncagr.gov/stats/2009AgStat/index.htm

NC’s Farmland Loss

Jones County, NC

# 14 voted best rural area in SE US to live in 2007.

No. 2: Warren County, PennsylvaniaWarren County is the kind of place that seems custom-made for every season on the calendar. It's tucked underneath the New York-Pennsylvania state line. A river runs through it.

No. 4: Gillespie, TexasIn many ways, Gillespie County is the kind of place you think of when you picture Texas: lots of wide-open spaces, cattle ranches, old men in cowboy hats. Even the major highways have cattle crossings.

No. 10: Polk County, North CarolinaHip, trendy Asheville is just 30 minutes to the north ... And yet it has somehow gone unnoticed. Consider this: Polk County does not have a Wal-Mart.

2007 Ag country marketing!

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Where is farming headed?

Working Lands Tools …In all 100 counties today: I.D. Partners - - - Communications & Networking Present Use Value Taxation – Guilford Co. / smaller acreage?? Cost Share Programs (profitability) - Technical Assistance Right To Farm Legislation Agritourism Century Farm Program How To Help Guides

In some counties today: Cost of Community Services Study Easements; purchase, holding & monitoring Grants such as the Ag. Development Trust Fund Voluntary Agriculture District Ordinance (VAD) Enhanced VAD County Farm Protection Program

A common reaction of some land owners to some of these working lands tools!

Why are we protecting farmland? Federal

USDA Food SecurityMilitary (buffers / encroachment) (endangered species)

LocalTowns and Counties – open space, clean water, quality of life, easements fundingCitizen Land Owners (love of land) (income) (future generations) (quality of life)

(neighbors) (locally grown good) (Davidson, NC)

State (economy)DENR & The State (water quality & quantity) / (open space)NCDA&CS (food protection) (agriculture sustainability)Trust Funds: ADFP, CWMTF, PARTF & Natural Heritage (funds & mission)

NGO’sLand Trust & Others (partnering) (open space) (environmental quality & quantity)

(quality of life) (their chartered purpose)Eco ServicesBio Fuels

Land Protection Partners4 years in the making …

NC Dept. of Environment & N.R. Cooperative Extension Service Division of Forest Resources Farmland Transition Network Division of Soil & Water Cons. NC State University Extension NC Department of Agriculture Military Bases Dept. of Transportation (federal &

state)

Farm Bureau Grange Land Trusts (24) American Farmland Trust Natural Resource Cons. Service NC Forestry Association Soil & Water Conservation

Districts (96) State Trust Funds (4) State VAD Work Group

• Other Partners ???

Legal Assistance

Training Workshops

District Employee Workshop – LandTrust for Central NC

Piedmont Training – Triangle Land Conservancy

Coastal Training – NC Coastal Land Trust

Mountain Training – Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and Buncombe SWCD

Timber Rights Development Rights

(right to build homes & businesses)

Mineral Rights Access Rights Right to Sell

Development Rights

EASEMENT

•Easement stays with land.

Right to Farm Legislation - N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 106-700 to 106-701

PRESENT USE VALUATION - 2010 - (The 5 – 10 – 20 rule) and 3 Years.

Agriculture Cost Share Program – animal operations

Farm Transition Network

NC Agritourism - Farm Road Sign Program, Web, Maps, Annual Conference

North Carolina Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council – August 2009

FARM TO FORK

3 Kinds of Counties: Doubters Curious Observers Optimist

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Cost of Community Services Study

Farmland – for every $1.00 in property tax paid, requires .30 to .50 in services

Average Home – for every $1.00 in property tax paid, requires around $1.50 in services

web site: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/wq/LandPreservationNotebook/

Easements:

The Right Land Protection Partners

County Government Land Trusts (24) Soil & Water Conservation Districts (96) Other NGO’s

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SWCDs holding, or monitoring easements… as of February 2010

ADFP Grant Project 2010 to 2012

Agricultural Capability …

1. Orange Co. – agriculture processing center

2. Cabarrus Co. – farm incubator (mentor)

3. Western NC – slaughter facility

4. Guilford Co. – agricultural easements

5. Piedmont Counties – shared marketing (VAD and County Agriculture Protection Plan)

Polk County Agriculture Economic Director

County agency

Touch 1.2 million people directly / Charlotte & Atlanta planned

Herbs, equestrian, sprout business > $2 million (not in USDA statistics)

400 equestrian jobs = many work both in NC & SC

Ag. is arts, community events, history, civic groups, real estate, big economy and cottage industries

Monthly Breakfast

Van & Agricultural Festival

Classes – certifications, business plans

Stoney Knoll Community Center

16 state Voluntary Ag District Programs

CaliforniaDelawareIllinoisIowaKentuckyMarylandMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioPennsylvaniaTennesseeUtahVirginia

VAD basis in North Carolina:

NC General Statute 106-739.

Voluntary Agriculture Districts

VAD’s …… a 1’st step toward protecting working land in NC

North Carolina VAD’s:

- 6,380 farms

- 510,000 acres

November 2010

What a VAD is not ……

A permit to farm irresponsibly

Being inconsiderate of neighbors

A costly program

What is a Voluntary Ag District?

Minimum contiguous acreage (PUV)

Conservation plan

3 building lots allowed

10 year agreement to protect land

VAD Benefits

Public Board

Public hearings for condemnation

Public nuisance suit reduction

Agriculture Vision & Annual Reporting

1 VAD County in 1990

12 VAD Counties in 2000

42 VAD Counties in 2005

76 VAD Counties in 2010

1. Military push

2. Peer pressure

3. Legislative Promise

Al a m a n ce

Co.

VAD

Al a m a n ce

Co.

VAD

Alamance County Success Story - - -

1 = acknowledgement. County commissioners recognition farms & forestland?

2 = back out option.Voluntary for county & farmer.

4 = dollars into the county. Do county commissioners and public recognize value of agriculture? (Public nuisance ordinance)

3 = county planning. A plan for agriculture.Cost of Community Services Study and County Agriculture Protection

Plan, PUV roll back funds = $50,000 county $’s for farmland easments

200 farms totaling 11,000 acres

$40 million in agricultural receipts in 2008

GIS map is key.

Farm tours, Meal Events, Locally grown = Food Security, New Jobs, Farm City Event, School Agriculture Education Days, Farmer Optimism, ADTF Grants, Eco Services, - - - -

• - Irrevocable 10 year agreement with 3 year auto renewals• - County can add other benefits

Real Estate Agent Repellent

Enhanced VAD Counties (16) - 2010

County Farmland Protection Plans

G.S. 106-739 – state legislated authority

Inventory agricultural resources Inventory agricultural resources Challenges and Opportunities to Family Farms Maintenance tools Schedule and Funding

Alamance County - 2007 Polk County - 2007

Web Site: http://www.ncadfp.org/FarmlandPreservation.htm

County Farmland Protection Plans (10) - 2010

State VAD Work group

NC Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources NC State University Extension (lawyer) NC Farm Transition Network (lawyer) NC Dept. of Transportation NC Dept. of Agriculture Farm Bureau (lawyer) NC Grange

Monitor VAD programs across the state

Coach and mentor establishing new County VADs

Address issues of concern & answer questions

List serve

Work on legislation

State VAD Work group

More Information

Land Preservation Notebook at NC State University - all ordinances- all farmland protection plans

Web site: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/wg/lpn/

Questions you need to answer? Do I want to sell my land, or keep it? How long? Do I have heirs who will inherit, or purchase my land? What are the plans & needs of my heirs? Do I trust my heirs? Do we want to farm the land, or develop it? All or part of it? Do I need extra income now? Who have I talked to, who has an easement? Have I talked to an attorney, or accountant? What are the tax implications? What are the legal steps to take? What is my land worth, with and without an easement? Do I have a plan in writing, for my farm, forest and land? Should I donate or sale my development rights? What is right for me, temporary, permanent, or no E’s?

Where do we go now?

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Crystal Ball of Agriculture A More Urban State Legislature

New Farmer & Limited Resource Farmer Programs

Water Allocation – Drought – Irrigation – Water Quality

More Easements – More Land Donations

Farm & Forest Sustainability

Local Grown, Value Added & Organic Agriculture – Food Security

• Climate Change Impacts – Biofuels – Carbon Credits

• Fewer Farmers (new clients??)

• Eco Services

Pay for value of saving soil, growing crops, etc.)

• More County Ag. Economic Officers

• Military Funding

Working lands owners, what will keep the next generation on the

land???

Faces of landowners in a county with the right tools!

Jerry DorsettWorking Lands Coordinator

Office of Conservation & Community AffairsNC Department of Environment & Natural Resources

585 Waughtown StreetWinston-Salem, NC 27107

Phone: (336) 771-4945 - office(336) 409-2356 – cell

Email: jerry.dorsett@ncmail.netjerrydorsett76@hotmail.com

November 12, 2010