SALISBURY — The Rowan County Farm Bureau Board hosted an agriculture-focused forum on Thursday, offering an opportunity to hear Rowan County Board of Commissioners candidates speak about preserving and supporting farms and natural resources in a county that is developing quickly.
Jason Chester, who moderated the forum, said that he had been told by members of the community that it had been “at least 40 years” since there had been a county forum focused solely on agriculture.
Michelle Patterson is the chair of the Rowan County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee and helped organize the event. She pointed to statistics about the loss of farmland and farming families as a major reason for highlighting the county’s farming community.
“Agriculture truly does matter in Rowan County,” she said. “According to a Jan. 3 article by Carrie Barnhardt that was recently in the Salisbury Post, our county is home to approximately 800 farms covering more than 105,000 acres and it contributes more than $96 million annually to our local economy. When I was looking at the Salisbury Post article, another one popped up from almost four years ago on Jan. 23, 2022, and it said that Rowan County had 925 farms and 118,000 acres in production with an economic impact of just over $82 million.
“In four years, we have lost more than 13,000 acres of farmland and 125 farms in Rowan County, yet agriculture’s economic contribution has grown by more than $14 million.”
Following the forum, Barnhardt announced that they had another event planned for Oct. 5 at the Rowan Community Center that would either be another forum or a debate focused on agriculture.
Candidates that attended on Thursday were Hannah Addair, Jonathan S. Barbee, Robert T. Hartsell, Jason Scott Hinson, Mike Julian, Bobby Kemp, Daniel R. Lancaster, Karla Foster Leonard, Ray Pope and Patrick Smith. Not in attendance were David W. Trexler, Josh Harrington, Angie Spillman and Alissa Redmond.
What is one concrete action you would take in your first year as commissioner to support agriculture in Rowan County?
Barbee pointed to the county’s agriculture advisory board and said that selecting the most qualified people for that board was important. He said that the county also needed to look into getting directly involved with securing preservation rights or easements on undeveloped land.
Hartsell said that his first action would be to “study and educate myself” by speaking directly with farmers.
Hinson also said that he needed to learn more about the agriculture community in Rowan County and added that he wanted to get involved with local 4-H programs and the Cooperative Extension.
Julian said that he wanted to speak with local farming families, specifically pointing to the Millers and Pattersons, and learn what they needed because “with 800 farms in this county, we have a lot of people who know a lot more about farming than I do.”
Kemp pointed to his history in farming, stating that his grandfather was a sharecropper and “the first dime I ever made was picking cotton.” He said that help would likely need to come from the state or federal level, but that he was willing to lobby for that assistance.
Lancaster said that one of the ways the county needed to help was by pushing education about local farming and “getting the excitement back behind farming” for local children. He also said they needed to keep an open dialogue with local farmers so that they could continue to learn what the county needed to do to support agriculture.
Leonard said that she wanted to fund a local database of available land so that anyone interested could connect with the extension office and find out what is available. She also said she wanted to set aside some of the funding for education so that FFA programs could be available in all the schools.
Pope said that while researching what struggles farmers around the country were facing, he kept seeing a declining workforce. He said he wanted to provide a way to streamline connections between workers and farms.
Smith also said he wanted to listen to local farmers and rural landowners about their needs and that he wanted to work with and assist farmers who wanted to sell their development rights.
Addair also said she wanted to speak with local farmers, because “how can we make decisions on what is best for agriculture in the county if we’re not talking to the people that are doing the work.” She said she also wanted to help connect farms with local organizations and resources, such as the extension or Bread Riot’s farmer apprenticeship program.
Regarding the Rowan County land use plan that was approved by the commissioners last year, do you think it supports the right direction for the county? What areas concern you?
Hartsell said that he had not had a chance to fully read over the plan but believed the land use plan was a move in the right direction.
Hinson also said it was a move in the right direction, pointing out that it targeted the Interstate 85 corridor for development growth which should protect the county’s rural areas. He also noted that it was the first time the county implemented a county-wide plan, so it could be tweaked in the future as needed.
Julian, who was the vice-chair of the planning board when the plan was developed, praised the work that had been done, noting that it took two years and allowed for many opportunities for public comment. He also pointed to the plan’s focus on highway corridors for development and emphasis on maintaining rural character outside of those as moves in the right direction.
Kemp said that he liked that the land use plan allowed the county to change it and evolve as it grew, adding that he liked that the county was being proactive about the growth.
Lancaster also applauded the focus on the interstate corridor, noting that it would help push increased traffic onto roads and into areas that could handle it. “The important thing is we have the focus, we have the plan so we don’t have sporadic growth just going throughout the county.”
Leonard, who chaired the planning board during the development of the plan, also took time to point out the amount of work and public comment that went into it. She said that they focused on pushing the development areas towards those corridors so that the county could preserve its green spaces and farmland. She said that she received some negative feedback from developers who were not fans of that preservation, but that she knew it was important to the county.
Pope said that he was a big fan of the living document aspect and that he was fully in support of the land-use plan.
Smith said that while he has not delved deep into the plan, he liked that it would help to control areas of development, noting that it seems like housing developments and warehouses were being built anywhere “with no rhyme or reason.”
Addair said that she attended a public comment session during the development and was apprehensive going into it, pointing to worries about data centers coming into the area. She said she has been pleasantly surprised by the plan, appreciating the interstate focus and rural protections, and said that they should look to continue pushing developments towards brownfields and corridors and not the current rural areas.
Barbee said he approved of the development process “because it was pushed by concerned citizens” and that the new plan was better than the previous plans. He also pointed to the “economic rings” it created around the county, such as the interstate one, as positive changes.
Do you support expanding or strengthening farmland preservation programs such as Voluntary Agricultural Districts or conservation easements? If so, how?
Hinson said that he would support and encourage expansion, but that he was uncertain about how. “It only makes Rowan County better,” he said.
Julian said that he wanted to speak with state legislators and farmers about how, but that he was in support.
Kemp said he would also support it and that he needed to hear more from farmers, suggesting a forum for commissioners and farmers together, on specific avenues to support them.
Lancaster, who recently served as an interim commissioner, pointed to the commissioner’s recent approval of a fund that takes the clawback funding from land removed from the present-use value program, which provides tax breaks to active farmland, horticultural land and woodland, and provides farmers with financial support if they wish to apply for an easement.
Leonard said that she has been speaking with local agricultural officials about what was needed and planned to continue to do so. She also lauded the county’s approval of the preservation fund.
Pope pointed to his experience as a high school teacher, including teaching an environmental science course, and said that “the environment is very near and dear to my heart.” He said that he would definitely support strengthening programs, and said that he might even look to implement a carbon dioxide/oxygen supplement for people with nondeveloped land.
Smith said that he supported the programs “like everyone should.” He also said he’s reached out to the Three Rivers Land Trust and would look to work with them.
Addair pointed to her experience working with the Three Rivers Land Trust as a sustainability program director for Catawba College and said she would look to work with them. She said she would also like to help local farmers and organizations raise funds and would support education programs to allow community members to go see local farms in person.
Barbee also supported expanding conservation programs and would even look into public-private partnerships that would allow the county to purchase development rights for farms.
Hartsell said he would also support growing the preservation programs and that he was willing to do whatever he needed to do to help.
How do you intend to balance the interests of urban development with preservation of agricultural land in our area, particularly local farms?
Julian said that the county would need to help with landowners putting their properties in land trusts, stating that part of the problem is that a lot of developers were buying up large tracts of land and petitioning municipalities for annexation, removing the county’s ability to have any input or enforce zoning on the land.
Kemp said that he agreed with Julian and added that the county needed to find a way to increase zoning and planning restrictions to prevent housing developers that are “just coming in to make a few dollars and move on down the road and leave us with the problem.”
Lancaster emphasized that the county needed to find a balance between private property rights and preservation of farmland, stating that the county needed to emphasize the options that local families have, including putting property into trusts or easements.
Leonard also said the county needed to find that balance, and pointed to Mooresville as a “promise” of what could happen in Rowan County if growth is not property managed. “Every acre of agricultural land that is developed is one that we’re never getting back,” she said.
Pope pointed out the fact that the nation’s population has more than doubled over the last 75 years, from approximately 150 million to 340 million, when talking about the issue of housing being built at a rapid pace. He also said that the county needed to continuously work to educate farms and promote the resources available to them.
Smith said that he saw conservation programs and land trust programs “as about the only way” to strike the balance between development and preservation. He did say that the county needed to find a way to slow down the growth, adding that he worried about the water being taken from the Yadkin River and High Rock Lake and the county’s sewage output.
Addair pointed to her work at Catawba creating green spaces, noting that she’s required to find the balance between preservation and providing space for native species and creating a space that is appealing to people on campus. She said that she supported finding a way to cap the “suburban growth” that was occurring, stating that not everyone needed the half-acre or smaller lots with single family homes that were constantly being built, and increased mixed-use zoning.
Barbee said that he believed the county was developing faster than it intended and used other candidates voicing concerns over the county’s waterways to plug his idea for a county-run water authority which would work alongside the city-owned Salisbury-Rowan Utilities.
Hartsell said that the community needed to push residential development back towards the downtowns, stating that Salisbury and China Grove both had plenty of empty or underutilized buildings that could be redeveloped into apartment space.
Hinson pointed to his experience on the China Grove Planning Board, noting that the two governments, municipal and county, often had different priorities. Municipalities were worried about housing and development being brought into the city limits while the county had to worry about preservation of the rural areas. He said he wanted to work on increasing incentives for farmers, pointing to the aforementioned present use value clawback as a good start and stating that they might be able to increase the penalties to further incentivize development of farmland.
