Farmland Preservation: Safeguarding Agriculture to Guide Sustainable Growth

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

Wake County is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, and unsurprisingly, ranks among the top 40 counties in the American Farmland Trust’s 2022 report on farmland loss. In the past 9 years, the county has lost 22,964 acres of farmland, roughly 20% of its total. In response to the threat of farmland loss, and to remain compliant with state statute, Wake County Commissioners approved the new Farmland Preservation Ordinance in 2022. The Farmland Preservation Program improves the existing Voluntary Agricultural District program and adds two additional programs, the Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District and Agricultural Conservation Easement programs. These programs offer new and robust options for landowners looking to preserve their agricultural land. The new program also has a customized database to store farmland preservation data on the respective programs, a vast improvement on the former record-keeping practice of paper folders in a binder. The program is managed by the Soil and Water Conservation District, who added a full-time staff position to manage the increased workload. The new programs have already proven to be in demand from landowners who desire stronger protections for agricultural land as interest has soared since the program’s inception on January 31, 2023.