Voluntary Agricultural Districts

Voluntary Agricultural Districts Benefits:

• Encourages the preservation and protection of farmland.
• 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. 10,441 farms are enrolled in the program that includes 855,976 acres of farms and forests.