Following Helene, officials working to avert agricultural disaster
A trio of high-ranking state and federal agriculture officials is warning that if farmers affected by Hurricane Helene don’t get help soon, next year could be a bleak one for both producers and consumers.
Farmland preservation grants available
The application period for county governments and conservation nonprofit groups to apply for farmland preservation grants from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund opened Oct. 14.
Haywood Soil and Water receives farmland preservation grants
The Haywood County Soil & Water Conservation District is a recipient of three of this year’s N.C. Grange grants to aid in land preservation efforts within the county.
SAHC marks 50 years
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) is celebrating 50 years of conserving clean water, plant and wildlife habitat, farmland and scenic beauty in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Farm Bureau sounds the alarm on disappearing agricultural land
The Haywood County Farm Bureau’s legislative breakfast is an annual tradition where the usual topics of conversation include crop prices, ever-escalating expenses, fuel and fertilizer costs, migrant labor policies, subsidies and what is — and isn’t — in the federal government’s current or proposed Farm Bill.
Land protected in Sandy Mush
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) closed on a conservation easement to protect 29 acres of farmland.
New program aims to protect farmland as older farmers age out
Nearly 300 million acres of American farmland is expected to change hands over the next 20 years, and a new program from the American Farmland Trust called “Land Transfer Navigators” aims to help farmers and landowners retire with confidence as they help new farmers access land.
Farmland preservation grants available
County governments and conservation nonprofits have until Dec. 18 to apply for farmland preservation grants from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund.
Grants awarded to protect N.C. farmland
Western North Carolina is well represented in the more than $15 million recently awarded to protect working farms and forests, support county farmland preservation efforts and promote agricultural enterprises.
Federal dollars fuel WNC farmland conservation: $8 million allocation is region’s largest ever
Land conservation groups across the region found something to celebrate this month when the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced an $8 million allocation for farmland conservation in Western North Carolina — a gargantuan number that the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy calls “unprecedented.”
This type of funding, allocated through the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Regional Conservation Partnership Plan under the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, has been available in the past. But never before has the amount been so large or so specifically targeted to Western North Carolina.
