News

Farmland bond supporters kick off campaign Wednesday

A farmland preservation bond issue if approved in the Nov. 3 election would raise $25 million to save agricultural land by paying farmers to give up development rights forever. An easement on the property would bar development, subdivision and non-agricultural commercial use while guaranteeing the landowner the right to farm. [YES FARMS AND FOREST BOND]

By Bill Moss, Published: September 22, 2026

Henderson County’s farmland preservation bond issue raced onto the Nov. 3 ballot at a pace seldom seen in politics.

County commissioners opened discussion of the idea in July, then proceeded to check off the legal boxes to get the ballot language done to the satisfaction of elections rules and bond counsel guidelines.

The campaign, says Chuck McGrady, is under a similar time crunch.

“Usually you need nine months to run a campaign like this,” says McGrady, the former county commissioner, state House member and longtime advocate for land conservation. “We’re doing it in nine weeks.”

The campaign in support of the $25 million bond issue to preserve farmland was scheduled to open formally with a kickoff event at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards, 588 Chestnut Gap Road. The public is invited to meet local farmers and campaign leaders and learn how the bond works.

McGrady says the campaign team is determined to keep the issue nonpartisan.

“We’re trying to keep it out of politics. I didn’t want the Republicans to give us a bear hug or the Democrats,” he said. “I just wanted to keep it sort of in the middle. But what’s interesting is that both of the congressional candidates are supporting the referendum, both of the North Carolina House candidates are supporting the referendum, both of the mayoral candidates.”

A survey of Henderson County voters by the Trust for Public Land showed strong support for farmland preservation and commissioners and others considered the bond issue around three years ago. Then, two big things intervened: Hurricane Helene and a $170 million judicial center.

“The courthouse frankly sucked all the energy out of everything,” McGrady said. “It put every other priority off the table because the number was so large.”

Landowner retains the right to farm

The campaign team plans to send speakers to public gatherings and elected boards to explain how the farmland preservation grants would work.

“Obviously, it’s totally voluntary,” McGrady said. “In the end, you sell a development right but you still own the land. You’re going to be paid for giving up the development right. Since you’ve given up the development rights your property is worth less. But you’ve been paid for it.”

Angela Price, farmland preservation coordinator for the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District, explained how the easements work to county commissioners back in July.

 “Easements are permanent regardless of ownership, so the land can be sold, inherited, passed down, but will continue to be within agriculture as written into the amendment,” she said. “The landowner retains the right to farm, the right to sell, right to live on the land, right to sell or lease anything of that nature. The only thing that is restricted is development, subdivision and non-agricultural commercial use.”

Co-chairs of the campaign steering committee are Jeff Chandler, the director of AgHC, the farm advocacy organization, and Ken Shelton, a retired physician and longtime conservation advocate. The honorary chair is Bub Hyder, the Edneyville farmer, landowner and developer.

Shelton said a primary goal of the committee is to let the public know how critical the loss of farmland is in Henderson County, which has seen rapid growth inching its way closer to orchards and fertile farmland.

“Twenty percent of Henderson County farms have disappeared in the last decade, with another 20% projected to disappear by 2040,” he said. “There’s a clarion call in my mind for coming up with local solutions, and the critical local solution is this bond referendum because that’s where we can get these matching funds for state and federal grants and even private donations.

“The state has recognized this as a major issue because I think North Carolina is the No. 1 state for farmland loss to developments in the entire country, and we’re No. 2 in the number of acres that are converting to non-agricultural use.”

Chandler also emphasized the urgency of acting now.

“Every year we wait, we lose more working farmland to development we can’t undo,” he said in a news release issued by the “YES Farms and Forest BOND” campaign. “This bond gives farm families a real, voluntary choice to keep land in agriculture instead of selling to the highest bidder. I’ve spent my career working alongside these farmers, and I can tell you: this is a tool they’ve been asking for to preserve their ability to operate profitably in agriculture.”

Cost for homeowner: $38/yea

For the median homeowner, the borrowing would cost $38 a year. The local investment also could be matched by state and federal conservation grants, compounding its impact well beyond $25 million, supporters say.

“The idea of the campaign,” McGrady said, “is to bring suburban-urban people together with the rural, to bring Republicans and Democrats together, to bring farm people and conservation people together — and so far, that seems to be working. We have a steering committee that is roughly equal part farmers and equal part conservation people.”

Shelton is urging people to come out, hear about how the farmland preservation easements would work, pick up yard signs and volunteer.

“The critical component is the issue of awareness because the bond ballot initiative is at the very bottom of the ballot,” he said. “People need to know to go to the last item and then say yes.”