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The Hadley Farm, Sutphin Community of Alamance and Chatham Counties conservation easement purchased by the Piedmont Land Conservancy "Farmers unite to 'conserve land" declared the front -page News & Observer feature story of Jan. 29, 2001, in its account about the protection of the Hadley family farm and five others in the Sutphin community area along the Alamance- Chatham county line. The stability of that rural community, since its settlement by Quakers in the 1700s, is reflected by the Hadley Brothers Farm. The farm has been in that family's operation for more than six generations, with James and Gary Brothers operating the farm for the past 30 years. The brothers agreed to place a permanent conservation easement over 143.5 of their total 262 -acre farm in a "bargain sale" of the non -farm development rights. Their donation of development rights matches the sum of the state's Farmland Preservation program grant to the holder of the easement. This easement is the fifth in a series of agricultural conservation easements acquired by the Piedmont Land Conservancy in the Sutphin farming community since 1996. A grant from the NC Farmland Preservation Trust Fund in 1999 helped finance a conservation easement over a large part of the nearby Newlin - Hickory Grove Dairy Farm. The protection of a major part of the Hadley farm brings the total contiguous acreage protected in the Sutphin area to almost 500 acres, or one -third of the long -term goal. The process has been driven by the initiative of local farmers who have been concerned about development threats to the long -term agricultural and cultural viability of their Quaker farming community. Working with the Piedmont Land Conservancy, and with assistance from the American Farmland Trust, large parts of five farms have been placed under permanent conservation easements and another ten neighboring farmers are considering doing the same. Currently, the Hadley farm is in transition from a dairy farm to raising heifers to be sold to other dairies. The portion of the land under conservation easement is comprised of more than 110 acres of open fields used for pasture and hay production, and about 30 acres of mature hardwood forest that provides wildlife habitat and contributes to the scenic qualities of the landscape. This "pilot" protection project demonstrates the long -term intent of the NC Farmland Preservation Program to help conserve large assemblies of agricultural and forest lands and contribute to the viability and sustainability of agricultural economies and rural communities. The Sutphin conservation project shows how farmland protection can go beyond preserving single farms and protect whole farming communities. It is the best example in North Carolina of using a combination of public and private funds, and landowner donations, to maintain the fanning culture and economy.