Macon considers farmland protection plan
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Macon County commissioners are considering the adoption of a farmland protection ordinance that would not only orchestrate cooperation between county government and farmers in the region but also allow for more grant funding opportunities for the county.
“This provides a little bit of a framework for grant opportunities going forward and some ideas to help maintain the viability of agriculture in a fluid economy,” said Soil and Water Conservation District Director Doug Johnson.
In 2022, Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District applied for and received a grant from the Agriculture Development and Farmland Preservation trust fund through the state of North Carolina to develop a farmland protection plan for the county. The county subsequently hired Foothills Regional Commission out of Rutherford County to create the plan.
At Macon’s Aug. 13 meeting, Alan Toney and Magnolia Long presented the plan to the commission.
In creating the plan, Foothills Regional Commission not only reviewed data available through the US Census of Agriculture, but also conducted surveys and interview with local farmers.
As it stands now, agriculture in the county is producing about $6.6 million in annual sales with $4 million of that coming from crop farming and $2.6 million coming from livestock farming. While hay leads crop acreage in the county, fruit, tree nut and berry crops produce the highest sales in the county. Cattle and calves are the leading livestock items.
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The number of farms in Macon County held steady between 2007 and 2022 at about 346, but during that same time there was about a 3.9% increase in farmland in the county. The majority of those farms, 231 of them, are 50 acres or less.
“This is not uncommon for where y’all are, mountains, topography, those kinds of things can make things challenging,” said Toney. “A lot of your farms are smaller scale operations.”
However, the number of farms over 170 acres, considered to be large-scale operations, increased from 22 in 2007 to 33 in 2022.
Census information showed that there are approximately 635 operators running the 346 farms in the county, and that the average age of those operators is 59.8 years old.
“Agriculture is North Carolina’s biggest economic driver and mover,” said Toney. “It’s a huge industry in North Carolina.”
In surveys conducted by the Foothills Regional Commission, the firm determined that only a third of Macon farmers have a transition plan in place when they can no longer operate the farm. Less than half of them said they have some ideas for transition.
“What I’ll tell you is if you have some ideas, or you have something else to say, that means you don’t have a transition plan,” said Toney. “100% of those farmers who took the survey said it is important that their farm continues being a farm after they pass, that it continues operating under agriculture. That’s a big deal because it shows that maybe those farmers need some assistance with transition planning, maybe there’s some programming needs there.”
The surveys also found that while some farmers are familiar with the Present Use Value tax program in North Carolina, not as many are familiar with voluntary agricultural districts or conservation easements.
“People always want to know more about those,” said Toney.
Of the farmers interviewed, 60% said they wanted to expand their farming operation over the next five years. The most popular answers for things that farmers wanted to learn more about were products they can grow themselves, marketing and agribusiness. And when asked what they would like to see from the county, farmers said the county should be promoting local foods and farms, enhancing the Macon County Agriculture Fair and promoting agriculture programs in K-12 education.
The plan that the team developed recommends the county invest in local farmers markets, increase awareness about opportunities and resources provided by local government entities, provide support and marketing assistance to farmers and agribusinesses and encourage farmers to diversify crop and livestock items to become resilient to market changes.
“We want to invest in local farmers markets,” said Toney. “This is really important for small scale and farmers starting now. Your bigger operations aren’t relying on farmers markets.”
The plan also calls for increasing awareness and support for those interested in transition planning, increasing understanding around conservation easements and protecting farmland as a valuable resource.
Right now, the county has voluntary agriculture districts, but the proposed plan recommends setting specific enrollment goals for that district.
“If you set a number, it holds you accountable,” Toney said. “But also consider the adoption of an enhanced voluntary agricultural district, which gives farmers a bit more protection, a few more options.”
The plan lays the groundwork for the county to create a land lease recruitment program which would connect people with fallow farmland to those looking to start farming or expand their existing operation.
“Farmers need access to expand their operation, but also to start out,” said Toney. “If you ask most farmers when they expanded their operation, they did not own their land, a lot of times, unless it was family land, they’ll tell you no, they had to lease it from someone else. If you create a program where that’s easily accessible, it’s easy to connect people that want to farm to people who are wanting to get out of it or it’s sitting there, and they don’t know what to do with it.”
With an adopted plan in place, Macon County would be eligible for lower required matching amounts in grants from the Agriculture Development and Farmland Protection Trust. Johnsons said that having a plan in place helps with receiving those grants.
The Foothills Regional Commission presented the plan to commissioners and asked for their approval at the Aug. 13 meeting, however, because Commissioner John Shearl said he would not approve the plan without first talking to farmers, the commission decided to table the plan and will tentatively revisit it at their September meeting.
