The Agricultural Plans application process is how the ADFP Trust Fund evaluates funding opportunities for locally-led farmland preservation efforts, ranking them by priority in alignment with its mission.
Donor Name: North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
State: North Carolina
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/29/2025
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
According to the American Farmland Trust, North Carolina is the second-most threatened state for farmland loss in the United States. According to a 2020 American Farmland Trust study, 732,000 acres of agricultural land in North Carolina were converted from 2001 to 2016. This conversion was the second-most of all the states in the country. In an American Farmland Trust study from 2022, North Carolina was projected to lose the second-most acres of farmland in the United States by the year 2040.
Combating North Carolina’s rapid farmland loss requires targeted, local solutions. The N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation (ADFP) Trust Fund advances this mission by using competitive grants to support county-level agricultural plans that promote farmland preservation and the agricultural economy.
Agricultural Plans are limited to requests that develop:
- Voluntary Agricultural Districts
- Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts
- Farmland Protection Plans
- Cost of Community Services Studies.
Eligibility Criteria
- All applicants must be nonprofit conservation organizations or county governments.
- Farmers, landowners, and others interested in applying must partner with a nonprofit conservation organization or county government to participate in an ADFP Trust Fund grant proposal.
- Agricultural Development Projects are limited to public or public-private enterprise programs that will promote profitable and sustainable family farms through assistance to farmers in developing and implementing plans to produce food, fiber, and value-added products, agritourism activities, marketing and sales of agricultural products produced on the farm, and other agriculturally related business activities. No grants that will provide an individual benefit will be allowed.
- Each organization or agency may submit an unlimited number of proposals per funding cycle, regardless of category (perpetual easements, term easements, agricultural development projects, agricultural plans, agricultural growth zones, additional easement purchase funds).
- Contract awards are based on funding availability.
- If total grant requests exceed the funding allocation for the grant cycle, the ADFP Trust Fund will fund a maximum of four (4) applications per category (perpetual easements, term easements, agricultural development projects, agricultural plans, agricultural growth zones, additional easement purchase funds) per applicant.
- Applications for donated easement proposals requesting only transaction cost assistance are not considered in this contract limit.
- If the funding allocation for the grant cycle is greater than the total grant requests, the contract maximum per applicant is waived for the grant cycle.
- Current grantees are subject to the Grantee Risk Assessment Guide. High-risk grantees will have the review of proposed grant requests discontinued, and no grant contract may be offered.
For more information, visit NCDACS.
