Farmland Preservation Advocacy Day Draws Around 150 Advocates

RALEIGH, N.C. – Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, NC Department of Agriculture Farmland Preservation staff and stakeholders from across the state gathered in Raleigh Wednesday to highlight the importance of farmland preservation and the need for increased funding to support land conservation.

Around 150 people came to show their support for North Carolina farmland and visit with their legislative representatives to share why protecting working lands matters — for the economy, food security, rural communities and future generations.

“The strong turnout today demonstrates broad, statewide support for investing in farmland preservation and ensuring that agricultural land remains available for farming for years to come,” Troxler said. “It’s time for North Carolina to be visionary and not reactionary.”

North Carolina is home to over 8 million acres of working farmland and forests, but these productive lands are disappearing. Residential and commercial development is consuming North Carolina’s most productive agricultural land at alarming rates. The expansion of artificial intelligence and impending demand for data centers also raises concerns for future land use.

The Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund supports the farming, forestry and horticulture communities within the agriculture industry, purchasing agricultural conservation easements, funding public and private enterprise programs to promote profitable and sustainable family farms, and providing funding for conservation easements targeted at the active production of food, fiber and other agricultural products.

Since its inception in 2006, the program has invested $118 million to permanently conserve more than 42,000 acres of farm and forestland. The demand for such funding, however, far outweighs the program’s recurring budget. In the most recent grant cycle, requests for farmland preservation funding totaled $59 million, yet only $3.1 million in new funding was available for awards. That gap represents working farms and forests across North Carolina that remain unprotected despite willing landowners and local support.

Advocates for Farmland Preservation gathered in Raleigh Wednesday to ask their legislative representatives to increase the recurring funding for the program to $25 million, match $11 million in federal dollars for partnership projects, secure $1 million for the Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts program, and extend and expand the conservation tax credit.