Columbus County is getting a $17,000 boost from the state for its portion of a Cost of Community Services Study connected to efforts to improve stormwater drainage, part of a sweeping $51.2 million round of farmland preservation grants handed out across 44 North Carolina counties. Just up the road in Bladen County, The Working Lands Trust secured $261,398.33 to place a permanent conservation easement on the EP&O Elkins Family Farm, protecting 211.67 acres from future development.
Where the Money Is Going Locally
The Columbus Soil and Water Conservation District will use its award for the county's portion of a Cost of Community Services Study aimed at improving stormwater drainage, according to WECT. Meanwhile, the Bladen County farmland easement will keep the Elkins family property from being converted to other uses, preserving it as working agricultural land. Both awards are part of the broader statewide distribution that also reached farms and projects in Alamance, Anson, Avery and Brunswick counties, as reported by Columbus County News.
The N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund administers the money, and per WCTI, the fund supports agricultural conservation easements, agricultural development projects, agricultural plans and Agricultural Growth Zones statewide. The same report notes that farmers and landowners hoping to participate in future rounds cannot apply directly — they must partner with a qualified nonprofit conservation organization or county government to put together a grant proposal.
A Record Budget Commitment
The 2026-27 state budget funneled $46.9 million in nonrecurring funding and another $2 million in recurring funding into the trust fund, according to the same WCTI report, marking what the station describes as the largest single-year investment in the program's history. North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said the General Assembly made a historic investment in farmland preservation, adding that the funding will make a significant, lasting difference for farm families and rural communities across the state.
Troxler also said demand for farmland preservation remains high and that he plans to keep working with the General Assembly and other partners to keep the issue a priority. He credited farmers, landowners, county governments, soil and water conservation districts and land trusts who supported farmland preservation efforts during an advocacy day held in May. Agricultural conservation easements give landowners a voluntary way to protect their working lands.
Development Pressure Behind the Push
The expanded funding comes as development pressure across the state has intensified calls to protect agricultural land. As one official put it, per Carolina Coast Online, the state is experiencing development that makes it imperative to take action to protect farms and farmland. Preserving farms and forests helps maintain the land base needed for agricultural production and supports the rural communities and businesses that depend on it.
Grant funding levels can vary from year to year depending on the resources available for each cycle, and officials caution that applicants in the current grant cycle should not assume the same level of funding will be available going forward. For now, though, the record-setting round has delivered tangible wins in southeastern North Carolina, keeping Columbus County's stormwater study moving and locking in permanent protection for more than 220 acres of Bladen County farmland.
