APB agenda 092700 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

5. Educate the public on the economics of farming and the importance of land as an asset to farmers Improve the Economics of Farming Help farmers develop new markets 6. Encourage local institutions such as schools and hospitals to buy local produce 7. Support the development of farmers' markets that enable farmers to sell directly to the public Provide small business assistance to farmers 8. Help farmers write business plans for their farm Help farmers diversify their operations and develop value -added agricultural enterprises 9. Provide enterprise cost -share grants to farmers in return for a term easement that limits non- farm development of the land for a set period of time 10. Provide additional state cost -share funds for conservation Help ensure the availability of processing facilities 11. Support the appropriate siting of processing facilities as legitimate agricultural operations 12. Invest in mobile processing facilities Support research to develop new agricultural products 13. Explore alternative uses for tobacco and other row crops 14. Research agricultural waste disposal technologies such as composting 15. Facilitate the development of other home -based businesses that help farmers remain economically viable while protecting the rural landscape and rural way of life 16. Encourage counties to develop agricultural economic development programs by providing state funding assistance to do so 17. Educate traditional economic development staff about agricultural economic development Minimize the Negative Effects of Suburbanization and Preserve a Critical Mass of Farmland Enhance the Voluntary Agricultural Districts Program 18. Create tax advantages to provide more financial incentives for farmers to enroll in Voluntary Agricultural Districts 19. Help improve traffic safety for farm vehicles and other vehicles by allowing speed limits to be lowered in Voluntary Agricultural Districts (farm equivalent of a school zone) 20. Allow enrollment in the use value assessment program to pass uninterrupted from one farmer to another if the property is enrolled in a Voluntary Agricultural District Develop Local Farmland Protection Plans 21. Provide state funding assistance to help local governments develop farmland protection plans that describe the current state of agriculture in the community and outline the different measures that local government will take to help support continued farming Support Purchase of Development Rights Programs 22. Increase the amount of money in the N.C. Farmland Preservation Trust Fund 23. Help fund the Trust Fund program with a mitigation fee on each acre of farmland that is developed 24. Provide local governments with the option of establishing a new dedicated revenue source to finance a purchase of development rights program 25. Develop a model Installment Purchase Agreement program to help farmers maximize the financial benefits from a purchase of development rights program 2