Wake County Board of Commissioners approve first farmland preservation plan

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The first farmland preservation plan in Wake County has been approved by the Board of Commissioners, officials said Tuesday.

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According to officials, the plan is intended to provide a 10-year vision for Wake County’s farmland preservation program. It will focus on land-use policies that support farming, programs that help keep land in agriculture, farmland protection funding, and farmland’s benefits to the environment, economy, and community.

The plan will explore existing data and farmland loss while gathering feedback from residents, landowners, and other stakeholders, including through interviews to help better understand local needs and concerns. It will also identify important farmland and other natural areas, set land preservation priorities, and provide recommendations for farming support, according to county officials.

Officials said the plan comes after Wake County lost more than 36,000 acres of farmland over the past 10 years, an area larger than Knightdale and Fuquay-Varina combined. Wake County is also regarded as one of the three most threatened counties in North Carolina for farmland loss in the American Farmland Trust’s Farms Under Threat 2040 report.

“Once these soils are developed, their agricultural value is permanently lost,” Wake County Commissioner Vickie Adamson said in a statement. “That’s why this plan is such a high priority for us. It creates a framework for action while allowing the board to carefully consider and prioritize recommendations based on the community’s needs and available opportunities.”

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Through a dedicated funding source created in 2023, according to officials, Wake County has obtained more than $20 million in conservation value that has been used towards agricultural conservation easements to permanently protect more than 407 acres across seven farms.

“This plan puts us in a stronger position to protect farmland by reducing the local match required for state conservation easement funding from 30% to 15%,” Wake Soil and Water Conservation District Director Teresa Furr said in a statement. “It helps us identify farmland at risk of development, focus resources where they can have the greatest impact and support the long-term future of farming in our community.”

Wake County has a goal of protecting 1,000 acres of green space, parks, greenways, farmland and forests by 2029, according to officials.

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