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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: [email protected]@hotmail.com
November 12, 2010
