Orange County NC Website
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Currently there are many factors which make it increasingly <br /> difficult for farming to remain economically viable. A majority of <br /> Orange County dairy farms are located in rapidly growing Bingham and <br /> Chapel Hill townships. Others are located in the potential growth <br /> corridor in the center of the County between Hillsborough and <br /> Mebane. The large capital investment and land needs of dairy <br /> farming make it particularly sensitive to rising land values and <br /> property taxes which tend to accompany non-farm development in <br /> farming areas. Capital investments in farm structures and <br /> equipment, necessary to improve productivity and remain competitive, <br /> tend to be inhibited under these general circumstances. <br /> Farms generate odors and dust both from plowed fields and chemicals <br /> which may be spread on those fields. This "pollution" can and does <br /> bring nuisance complaints from new subdivisions nearby. The seine <br /> industry is the most vulnerable of all County agriculture to <br /> nuisance complaints. However, most, if not all swine operation s <br /> are located away from County growth areas. Hence, the industry is <br /> not as vulnerable to nuisance complaints as it otherwise might be. <br /> Northern Orange County is part of a major tobacco growing area that <br /> extends north into Person and Caswell Counties and southern <br /> Virginia. Tobacco farming, with its comparatively high revenue <br /> yields per acre and its location away from the major growth areas in <br /> the County, remains a core of agricultural stability. Potential <br /> changes in federal tobacco policies and future market demand leave <br /> even this segment of agriculture with its uncertainties. <br /> Poultry and egg operations are centered in the northeastern portion <br /> of the County. Future growth pressures from Durham and Hillsborough <br /> may contribute to nuisance complaint problems for this industry. <br /> A major survey of Orange County rural opinion, taken between <br /> November, 1978 and January, 1979 by Margaret Watkins of Duke <br /> University, reported that County farmers felt six significnat <br /> constraints upon their farming future. The results are shown in <br /> Table 2-3: <br /> TABLE 2-3 <br />