Conservation Easements in North Carolina

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, through its Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation (ADFP) Trust Fund, is accepting applications for Cycle 19 of its Conservation Easement program. The ADFP Trust Fund was established to protect agricultural, horticultural, and forestland across North Carolina from development pressures. According to research by the American Farmland Trust, North Carolina ranks as one of the most threatened states for farmland loss. This program provides competitive grants to fund projects that place qualifying private working lands under agricultural conservation easements, ensuring long-term agricultural use and preserving the state’s farming economy. The purpose of the grant is to fund agricultural conservation easements that prevent non-agricultural development, maintaining the land for agricultural purposes in perpetuity or for fixed terms of 30, 40, or 50 years. Eligible applicants include nonprofit conservation organizations and county governments, as defined in G.S. 106-744. Farmers and landowners must partner with these entities to apply. The property must be privately owned, located in North Carolina, actively in agricultural, horticultural, or forestry production, and meet minimum acreage requirements of 5 acres horticultural, 10 acres agricultural, or 20 acres forestry. Existing easements that have already removed development rights are not eligible. The application process is divided into three parts. Part 1, Intent to Apply, is open from the first business day of August to the last business day of August. Part 2, Eligibility, Background, and Purpose, opens the second Monday of September and closes the third Monday of October. Part 3, Additional Evaluation Information (for standard appraisal easements only), opens the first Monday of November and closes the last Monday before Christmas. Applications must be complete and include required documentation, or they may be deemed ineligible. On-site visits and interviews are conducted for all eligible applications. The Commissioner of Agriculture, in consultation with the ADFP Trust Fund Advisory Committee, makes final award decisions based on application scoring, budget, and Map and Narrative Assessment (MANA) results. Funding requests may include the purchase of the conservation easement and certain allowable costs such as surveys, environmental assessments, legal fees, closing costs, and stewardship endowments. ADFP Trust Fund grant funds for purchase are limited to 50% or less of the easement’s appraised value for standard appraisal applications. Match requirements vary: nonprofit organizations must match at least 30%, tier two or three counties with approved farmland protection plans must match 15%, and tier one counties with approved plans have no match requirement. Matches may be cash or in-kind, but state funds from North Carolina cannot be used for match. The grant period runs until September 30, 2028, for sole-funded projects and September 30, 2029, for projects with NRCS partner funding. Scoring criteria award points based on factors such as the length of the easement, percentage of prime soils, history of agricultural production, landowner status as a producer, conservation program enrollment, proximity to other protected farmland, threats of conversion to development, and county-level projections for farmland loss. Title and environmental prescreens are required to identify potential issues that may prevent easement recordation. Applicants are responsible for resolving these before contract execution. Contact for the program is Allison Rodriguez at [email protected]. Detailed guidelines, application forms, and resources are available on the program’s website at https://www.ncagr.gov/divisions/farmland-preservation/applicants. All required steps must be completed by the respective deadlines to be considered for funding.

Submit complete documentation by deadlines; placeholders only accepted with prior approval; unresolved title or environmental concerns may disqualify the application.