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What Next? You've gotten an ordinance passed, the board is in place, applications have been distributed and landowners are enrolling acreage in the program. What else can your county do to increase agricultural viability? Here are a few ideas from around the state: ■ Orange County has focused on agricultural economic development. With a 26 percent increase in population from 1990 to 2000, along with the addition of a hospital and major university, the county decided that increasing the amount of products purchased from local farmers would increase profitability and be its best bet for preserving agricultural land. It now has an agricultural economic development coordinator, hired jointly by Cooperative Extension and the Economic Development Commission. See www.orangecountyfarms.org to find out more about what the county is doing. ■ Henderson County is preparing an agricultural chapter for the update of the county comprehensive plan. Working with the Land of the Sky Regional Council, the county received a Community Innovations Grant from the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program to demonstrate how to incorporate agriculture more effectively in a county land use plan. Attendees at last winter's trainings will recall how New York state has used this technique to plan for an agricultural future. To learn more, contact Tom Elmore at tom @landofsky.orQ. ■ Currituck, Rowan and Orange counties all recently have allocated money for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements (PACE). These programs compensate landowners willing to permanently restrict non - agricultural development on working farmland. Not only will this put needed capital into the agricultural sector; it can potentially bring matching federal dollars into the county through the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. A fact sheet on PACE programs is available online at www.farmlandinfo.org/fic/tas/tafs- pace0998.pd . ■ Northampton County's VAD ordinance designates that a county commissioner serve on the VAD board, and that the planning board include a VAD member. It also requires that anyone applying for a building permit sign a statement acknowledging that he or she has seen the VAD map and that subdivision developments designate the location of VADs within a half mile on their final plans. For information on how these rules are working, contact Heather Lifsey at heather_lifsey @ncsu.edu. ■ Be a participant in local decision - making. Keep everyone informed of how their decisions impact local agriculture. Planning boards, citizens advisory groups, farm organizations, newspapers, school boards and state legislators all can use your input about farmland loss. Ask the county commissioners to view you as a valuable resource to help them determine the best course for the county's farms. VAD board member and County Commissioner Brent Hunter can tell you how they work together in Yadkin County: (336) 468 -2575. ■ Make the case for the importance of local agriculture. Farms provide food and fiber, open spaces, wildlife habitat, cultural heritage, economic activity and lower property taxes. For information on materials and studies that can demonstrate these points, contact Gerry Cohn at acohn @farmland.org. This report was produced with the support of the Cemala Foundation, Lovett Foundation and Frank Borden Hanes Charitable Lead Trust, as well as members of American Farmland Trust. i, 40.0�4& L�!b� Southeast Regional Office 24 Court Square NW, Suite 203 - Graham, NC 27253 336 - 221 -0707 - www.farmland.org