Farmland Preservation - County Info and Statewide Summaries

North Carolina Voluntary Agricultural Districts by County

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VAD Programs (54)

VAD and Enhanced VAD Programs (36)

No County VAD Program (10)

Counties with VAD Programs: 90
VAD Counties with Enhanced VAD Programs: 36
Farms Enrolled in the VAD Program Statewide: 10,068
Acres of Farmland and Working Forests Enrolled in the VAD Program Statewide: 840,263.49
Farms Enrolled in the Enhanced VAD Program Statewide: 827
Acres of Farmland and Working Forests Enrolled in the Enhanced VAD Program Statewide: 59,667.77
Total Farms Enrolled in the VAD and EVAD Program Statewide: 10,895
Total Acres of Farmland and Working Forests Enrolled in the VAD and EVAD Program Statewide: 899,931.26
Statistics are generated from county reports. Last updated 12-15-2022.

Voluntary Agricultural Districts by Administrative Entity

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Soil and Water Conservation Districts (43)

North Carolina Cooperative Extension Offices (44)

County Planning Departments (2)

 County Agricultural Economic Development Office (1)

No County VAD Program (9)

Farmland Protection Plans

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Counties with Farmland Protection Plans (67)

Counties Updating Existing Farmland Protection Plans (1)

Farmland Protection Plan Under Development (1)

No Farmland Protection Plan (31)

Farmland Protection Plans: 
•    Contain a list and description of existing agricultural activity in the county;
•    Contain a list of existing challenges to continued family farming in the county;
•    Contain a list of opportunities for maintaining or enhancing small, family-owned farms and the local agricultural economy;
•    Describe how the county plans to maintain a viable agricultural community and use farmland preservation tools, including agricultural economic development, farm diversification and marketing assistance, agricultural technical assistance, farm infrastructure financing, farmland purchasing assistance, linking with younger farmers, estate planning, donation of agricultural conservation easements, and entering into Voluntary Agricultural Districts; and 
•    Contain a schedule for implementing the plan and identification of possible funding sources for the long-term support of the plan.

Cost of Community Services Studies

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Study Completed by NC State University (13)

Updating Existing Study Completed by NC State (1)

Study Completed by the University of Mount Olive (6)

Study Under Development (3)

No Cost of Community Services Study (77)

Counties with Cost of Community Services Studies: 20

In North Carolina, for every $1.00 of revenue generated by agricultural lands, the cost of community services provided is $0.53.

In North Carolina, for every $1.00 of community services provided, the revenue generated by agricultural lands is $1.90.

In all 20 counties analyzed, agricultural lands use less tax dollars than they generate. Working lands in North Carolina are net providers of local tax dollars, rather than net users. The source data behind this summary can be found here.