RALEIGH – Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler today presented the North Carolina Friends of Farmland Award to Wake County for its innovative farmland preservation initiatives that have already preserved 238 acres of farmland.
The award recognizes an individual or group that delivers exemplary service in the preservation of North Carolina working lands and undertakes extraordinary efforts to foster the growth, development and sustainability of North Carolina farms.
“I cannot say enough about Wake County and the innovative ways county leaders have focused on farmland preservation, from revamping its Farmland Preservation Ordinance to hiring a Farmland Preservation Coordinator housed in the Soil and Water Conservation District office,” Troxler said in presenting the award at the Wake County Board of Commissioner’s meeting.
In terms of innovation, Troxler noted that Wake County has allocated the rollbacks from Present-Use Value to fund the program, meaning it takes the taxes from when land is converted for development and uses it to preserve the remaining agricultural lands in the county.
“I would love to see every county in the state implement a similar program, because we can see these efforts paying off here in Wake County,” he said.
“I appreciate Commissioner Troxler for recognizing the value and importance of our innovative Farmland Preservation Program, which has already preserved nearly 240 acres in Wake County,” said Wake County Commissioner Vickie Adamson. “We’re proud to be a role model for other counties who want to proactively protect land for producing food and protecting wildlife habitat and water quality.”
According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, Wake County has 664 farms on 62,323 acres. These farms run the gamut from sales of less than $2,500 to sales of $100,000 and up. Of those, 432 Wake County farms are considered small farms, with sales of under $10,000.
“Farmland matters to every one of us because it is the foundation of our food production. I know there are a lot of grocery stores in Wake County, but we can’t forget that our farms are the source of our food,” Troxler said. “Farmland preservation helps ensure we have the natural resources we’ll need to continue to feed ourselves and others.”
-aea,2-