Politics

Voters likely to decide farmland preservation bond issue on Nov. 3

By Bill Moss, Published: July 23, 2026

Henderson County residents who have opposed high-density development in rural communities, implored county commissioners to preserve forests, fields and orchards and called for sustainable farms will almost surely get their chance to help make those goals happen.

The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last week to take the first step in putting a farm preservation bond issue of up to $25 million on the Nov. 3 ballot.

In discussing whether to green light the bond issue, commissioners and the county manager strongly supported the initiative.

“In my time the board has supported at great length Cooperative Extension, AgHC, numerous farmers markets, zoning, ag districts (and held) numerous public meetings in the farming community,” County Manager John Mitchell said. “The board has also hired a farmland preservation coordinator, supported Soil & Water and the board has allocated resources for the specific purpose of preserving farmland. It’s something that routinely has been included at the very top of every comprehensive plan I’ve been involved in.”

Commissioner Sheila Franklin, elected in 2024 on a campaign that supported growth management, noted that over the past three or four years land conservation has been a recurring theme in public input settings.

“Out of all the projects and things that we do, all the things that we’re borrowing for, this is the one thing consistently over and over we’ve been asked for,” she said. “It’s almost like a hail Mary. This is one thing in our control, in our wheelhouse, that we could do, and I totally agree with putting it on the ballot to let voters decide. If there’s so many that have always said that they want this and they desire this, then it’s putting your money where your mouth is.”

Commissioner Rebecca McCall, who chairs the county Farm Preservation Task Force, said farmland protection has the potential to not just to save farms but to preserve the pastoral view neighbors enjoy.

“Right now, you’re looking at cows and horses and maybe some apple trees, but that’s owned by somebody else, and if they decide to sell it to a developer because they don’t have any other choice — because they have no children to leave it to, or their children do other things and decide they don’t want to be farmers — and they sell it, they have a perfect right to do that,” she said.

“This is an opportunity for the citizens of Henderson County to protect those views, that land, the integrity of who we are, without having to put up the money to personally buy that property. It allows the farmers to sell their property in a way that they can make a good return on their investment and it still remain in farmland because if they tried to sell their land to another farmer today they would not get anywhere near what those developers are offering.”

Before the board’s discussion and vote, speakers lined up to strongly support the bond referendum. Among them were former state Rep. Chuck McGrady, Jimmy Cowan, a Mills River farmer and N.C. Farm Bureau representative; Chae Davis, of North River Farms in Mills River; and Ken Shelton, a retired physician and strong advocate of land conservation, who said the borrowing plan if adopted would cost taxpayers an additional $36 a year.

Speakers support bond issue

McGrady, who introduced himself as “a camp director and a county commissioner and a state legislator and someone who is now failing at retirement,” rose to tell commissioners “why I support putting a bond referendum on the ballot, and secondly, I want to make an offer.”

Land conservation, and farm preservation especially, were strongly supported in an online survey and in-person public input during commissioners’ rewrite of county’s comprehensive land-use plan over the past two years, McGrady said, but the timing was not right two years ago to push for a bond referendum.

“Our next opportunity to put a bond referendum on the ballot is this November,” he said. “Again, there are impediments, including budget constraints and a recent authorization of a tax increase, but your efforts to address growth-related issues was also hampered by a provision in the state budget that restricted your ability to do some of the things that you wanted to do back then” by barring local government from making zoning less restrictive.

“I’m sorry, my former colleagues stuck that in. No one is taking credit for it, and no one has moved to get it repealed. … Perhaps there is no good time to do a bond referendum, but I think it is a good time.”

Then came the offer from a public servant who has won countywide election seven times: “If you authorize putting a bond referendum forward, my commitment to you is that I will help run a campaign in support of that ballot initiative.”

Cowan also called on commissioners to do what they can to save the family farm.

“I don’t blame the farmers for selling. I blame us as a county for not allowing them options — tools in the toolbox, besides just calling their local Realtor and signing a listing agreement,” he said.

“I ask you to allow the citizens of the county to decide if farmland preservation is a priority for them and their grandchildren by putting the bond referendum on the ballot in November. There are pros and cons to the idea, I realize that. It’s not all positive, and I have some questions myself.

“But I feel like we as citizens should educate ourselves on the bond and make that thoughtful decision at the ballot box, like we do when we decide who will lead our county, our state and our nation.”

Tight timeline

County Attorney Russell Burrell laid out the timeline to get the question on the ballot, starting with a special called meeting at 9:30 a.m. Monday, July 27. A public hearing is also required. If the commissioners don’t act to get the question on the ballot by an Aug. 7 deadline, he said, the next opportunity would be in the primary election in March 2028.

Commissioner Jay Egolf acknowledged there are questions about the process, how the proceeds would be used and how much it would cost taxpayers.

“What I do know is that there has been an overwhelming response to the idea of putting this on the ballot in November and let the general public decide,” he said. “I don’t have every answer to every question at this moment but that’s the purpose of having these meetings in the future. I just feel so strongly in the fundamental right to vote in this country, I just say, man, let the voters decide.”

Chairman Bill Lapsley called the farmland preservation “a baby step” in preserving the 11,000 acres of land owned by farmers who have already expressed an interest in a voluntary ag conservation easement.

“If the voters of this county approve this concept, this is not the end all,” he said. “It’s not gonna be the magic wand to solve the issue. It’s a start, and if it goes well, two or three years from now, maybe there’s another bond referendum instead of $25 million. Everybody’s excited — we’ll do $50 million, maybe it’s $100 million. It’s going to take a lot of money to achieve this goal. Should the board agree to proceed, it’s not the single answer.”

While “it’s going to be a long road,” Egolf responded, “I feel confident that we should start down this path and see where it takes us. … It’s what keeps coming up time after time after time. Let’s do it, and let’s see where it takes us.”

Ag agencies tout 100th farm easement

The Farmland Preservation Division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture have reached a significant milestone with the closing of their 100th jointly funded agricultural conservation easement, the state agriculture announced. The easement was recorded July 15 in Johnston County.

The farm conservation program is one of the tools Henderson County is likely to use to protect as much farmland from development if voters approve a $25 million bond issue on Nov. 3.

The agreement announced in Smithfield is the result of the long-standing partnership between the two agencies to permanently protect North Carolina’s working farms and preserve the state’s rural landscape for future generations, the state and federal agencies said in a news release. The two agencies first partnered to conserve a 76-acre farm in Durham County in 2009. Since then, the program has preserved 16,554 acres in 32 North Carolina counties for farm use.

“This milestone reflects what can be accomplished when state and federal partners have a shared goal to protect farmland,” N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said. “For generations, these conserved farms will continue producing food and fiber, supporting our state’s rural communities and preserving our agricultural heritage. We thank USDA-NRCS for its longstanding partnership and shared investment in ensuring our farmland remains farmland.”

Under the program, conserved property remains in private ownership under an easement permanently restricting non-agriculture development, allowing the land to continue supporting agricultural production and contributing to the state’s leading industry. 

“Farmland preservation starts with the farmer, and we thank the Langston family and the hundreds of other farm families across the state that have participated in these programs over the years. Without the farmer, there is no farmland preservation,” said Evan Davis, director of the NCDA&CS Farmland Preservation Division.

The achievement comes after the N.C. General Assembly adopted a 2026-27 budget that includes a $46.9 million investment to the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund — the most funding ever in a single year. 

The Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund supports the farming, forestry and horticulture communities within the agriculture industry, purchasing agricultural conservation easements, funding public and private enterprise programs to promote profitable and sustainable family farms, and providing funding for conservation easements targeted at the active production of food, fiber and other agricultural products. Since its inception in 2006, the program has invested $118 million to permanently conserve more than 42,000 acres of farm and forestland. 

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