The Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund (ADFPTF) supports the farming, forestry and horticulture communities within the agriculture industry by supporting the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, funding conservation agreements and more.
Here are just some of the success stories thanks to ADFPTF grants over the years:
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- The Holden-Roberts Farm is a Triangle-area success story. In 2020, the Eno River Association in partnership with Orange County’s Lands Legacy Program, the ADFPTF, and the City of Raleigh’s Watershed Protection Program, purchased a “working lands” conservation easement on a 57-acre historic property in Hillsborough. The easement serves the dual purpose of protecting prime farmland and protecting the quality of water that flows downstream of the farm. Read more on the Eno River Association blog.
- Brothers Ed and Keith Wood have conserved more than 250 acres of their Cherokee County family farm, passing the halfway point to conserving 400 acres of working farmland in the Valley River valley. Learn more about this inspiring story on the Mainspring Conservation Trust website.
- Catawba Land Conservancy helped a family-owned dairy farm create a conservation easement to protect 266 acres in Lincolnton, NC. Read more about the Lutz family and Riverbend Creamery in the cover story of the Catawba newsletter.
- Long Farm in Cherokee County is an organic operation that specializes in heirloom and heritage varieties of produce and livestock. The Long Farm was conserved as a result of the 2014 Farm Bill, which awarded funds for the conservation of important farmland in western North Carolina. In addition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, funds from the North Carolina ADFPTF and private funders made this dream possible! Take a peek inside this beautiful plot of land on the Mainspring Conservation Trust website.
- Blue Ridge Conservancy was able to protect two farms in Ashe County. Baldwin Farm protected 86.7 acres and Hunter Farm protected 54 acres. Learn more about all the work Blue Ridge Conservancy does to protect our farmlands on their website.
- Stunning Rogers Cove in Haywood County contains 620 acres of permanently conserved farmland, worked by many generations of the Rogers family over the past 200+ years. Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy received grants from ADFPTF to help bring this extended conservation project to completion. This visionary project included working with various members of the family for more than a decade to preserve the cove. Learn more about the project on the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
- Picturesque Sinkhole Creek Farm in Mitchell County has over 111 acres of farmland permanently conserved thanks in part to a grant from ADFPTF. The acreage includes important agricultural soils and deep family roots. Fun fact: The distant family of the farmers is featured in an old folk tale and a ballad about murder in the mountains. Learn more about this storied land on the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy website.
- The views of rolling pastures and forested hillsides along the Buncombe County Farm Heritage trail at the Brown Family Farm have been permanently protected. 175 acres are permanently protected thanks to grants from ADFPTF and Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy supporters who have made farmland preservation possible here and throughout their region. Read more about this farm with rich family history.