Brian Long, director
NCDA&CS Public Affairs
(919) 733-4216, ext. 242

Friday, March 27, 3 p.m.

Andrew’s 170-acre farm will be protected under a conservation easement supported by the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. The trust fund awarded the Triangle Land Conservancy a grant of $664,300 last summer to help purchase the easement. The trust fund is managed by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

North Carolina lost 600,000 acres of farmland from 2002 to 2007. The ADFP Trust Fund supports a variety of efforts aimed at protecting farms and forests. Examples include conservation easements, farmland protection plans, and processing and distribution facilities that farmers can share.

In 2008, the trust fund awarded grants totaling $7.6 million to support 41 projects protecting more than 3,200 acres across the state. The trust fund has been supported the past two years by appropriations from the General Assembly.

Andrew took over management of the family farm after finishing college in 1991. Today, he operates a hatching egg farm with 40,000 hens, a 100-head cow-calf operation, and a herd of about 75 meat goats. The farm also includes about 50 acres of loblolly pines planted 12 years ago.