Voluntary Agricultural Districts

Voluntary Agricultural Districts Benefits:

• Encourages the preservation and protection of farmland and working forests.
• Allows landowners to publicly recognize their farms.
• Establishes an Agricultural Advisory Board in the county.
• May protect farms from negative impacts, such as waivers of water and sewer assessments, and public hearings for proposed condemnation.
• Allows for Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts to protect farms from development for 10 years.

Currently, 90 counties in North Carolina have county ordinances for Voluntary Agricultural
Districts. Across the state, 12,500 farms and 876,488 acres of working farms and forests are enrolled in the program.