Agenda 06-02-2026; 6-b - Acceptance of Updated Orange County Agricultural Viability and Farmland Stewardship Plan

Browse Search

28 FINAL DRAFT-5-27-26 The County can elevate the importance of agriculture in its land use planning by prioritizing it in the 2050 Land Use Plan, which is being developed at the time of this writing. If agriculture is to remain viable---and if the County is to sustain agriculture's economic, environmental, and cultural benefits and to support a resilient local food system---the County must plan for agriculture in the same way it does for other community needs. Planning efforts should be informed by the perspective that, while farmland can be considered a category of open space, its material, environmental, and economic contributions distinguish it from other categories of open space. Thus, farmland protection not only protects open space, but it also facilitates continuance of the material, environmental, and economic benefits that farmland provides. Accordingly, Goal #1 of this Plan is to Plan FOR Agriculture: Elevate farmland stewardship to being a central consideration in land use planning and decisions. Goal 2: Conserve Farmland Through Direct Measures The most effective means of protecting farmland are direct measures: namely permanent agricultural conservation easements (Freedgood, 2020). Orange County's Lands Legacy program administers conservation easements in the County as do nonprofit entities such as Triangle Land Conservancy, Eno River Association, and Working Lands Trust. With assistance from these groups, the County has permanently preserved over 3000 acres of farmland and conservation land combined. The County also administers the Voluntary Agricultural District/Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD/EVAD) program, in which farmer/landowners voluntarily protect their land from non- farm development for a period of at least 10 years. As of May 2026, the VAD/EVAD programs have enrolled 162 farms comprising 17,833 acres in [Photo 10:] voluntary conservation agreements. These numbers, while encouraging, show that our current efforts are falling far short of the challenge. The 2022 USDA Agricultural Census reported that the County lost over 16,000 acres of farmland to development and other uses between 2017 and 2022. (Agricultural Census, 2022) While a small minority (16%) of respondents to the 2023 Orange County Farmer and Landowner Survey had their land in a conservation easement, the topic of most interest for an informational or training session was preserving my land through a conservation easement (Appendix 1 for summary). Like agricultural conservation easements, farm transition or estate plans that provide for continuing operation of farms when owners retire or die are important tools for farm viability. Most farmers lack such plans (Upendram, 2021 ). The majority of Orange County farmers responding to the 2023 Orange County Farmer and Landowner Survey indicated an intention to keep their land in agriculture after they retire (Appendix 1 for summary). The most common plan for the future of farmland upon retirement was transfer to a family member for 26