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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December 15, 1998 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. q _ e <br />SUBJECT: Proposed Orange County Agricultural Summit <br />DEPARTMENT: County Commissioners <br />PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) <br />BUDGET AMENDMENT: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />None <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Commissioner Barry Jacobs, 732-4941 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To authorize a work group to develop a format for an Orange County Agricultural Summit. <br />BACKGROUND: Agriculture is a key component of Orange County's economy and character. <br />Approximately one-third of the county's land is used for farming. The county extension service estimates <br />between 750 and 1,000 people are engaged in agriculture and related businesses in Orange County. <br />Livestock and livestock products in Orange County yielded $17.8 million in income in 1996. Crop <br />income in 1996 was $17.6 million. Of the monies derived from crops, 43.4 percent ($7.65 million) came <br />from flue-cured tobacco. Thus, more than 21 percent of farm income in the county is directly related to a <br />crop that faces the most significant mandated production cutbacks in history. <br />Meanwhile, development pressures increasingly cause farmers to look upon their land as a marketable <br />commodity rather than as a source of annual income. Loss of agricultural lands, which require little in the <br />way of county services, has a number of deleterious effects, from promoting sprawl to destroying open <br />space. Less tangible, but no less important, with Orange County's transformation from agrarian to <br />suburban land use, we lose the sense of rootedness and community that helped shape our common <br />heritage. <br />County government long has played a key role in addressing the needs of the agricultural sector. Given <br />heightened concerns about the future of tobacco, as well as the advance of several important issues that <br />likewise affect the farm community and the county at-large, this appears a propitious moment to bring <br />together farmers, resource persons, county officials, and other interested parties to explore alternative <br />practices and creative solutions to problems related to maintaining a viable agricultural industry in Orange <br />County. <br />Areas of discussion at the Farm Summit might be broken down as follows: <br />