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Farmland Program - Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

Farmland Program

In 2005, we established the Farmland Program to preserve working agricultural lands important to the natural and cultural heritage of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. Family farms are being lost at a staggering rate and with you help, we can continue protecting important farmland for future generations.

Protecting Local Family Farms

We build relationships with interested landowners, working with them to structure conservation easement transactions that protect their land and solve their financial challenges. In some cases, we can raise funds to bargain purchase conservation easements on farms to protect them from being converted from productive farmland to real estate development. Sale proceeds from these easement transactions provide capital to the landowner, which they can invest in their farm enterprise.

Gifts and Bequests of Farm Tracts

SAHC accepts the donation of farm tracts. This ensures permanent protection of a farm and can strengthen our Farmland Access Service. We also accept donations of farms with a life estate, so you can donate your farm to SAHC now and continue to live on it and enjoy it for the rest of your life.

Farmland Access

SAHC is striving to build a network of productive farms in western North Carolina and east Tennessee that are available for farmers to grow food and earn a living for their families, and that will be protected forever from loss by conversion to real estate development. Through this work, we aim to make farmland more accessible to beginning farmers, for whom lack of access to farmland is a primary barrier to farming.

SAHC Community Farm

Our Community Farm is a 103-acre property donated in 2010, which has become a model for productive farming and environmental health. Home to our Farmer Incubator Program, it also features an educational Discovery Trail, Education Center, Stream Restoration area, and Shortleaf Pine Restoration project.

Resources for Farmers

We’ve gathered a selection of links and resources available from SAHC and our partners in the region, which may be helpful for beginning or improving your agricultural endeavors. Check them out!

Recent Farmland Conservation Stories

March 16, 2021/by sahcadmin

Mathes Farm

Thanks to conservation supporters like you, 45 more acres of…

November 13, 2020/by sahcadmin

Sinkhole Creek Farm

July 20, 2020/by sahcadmin

Sandy Hollar Farms

July 2, 2020/by sahcadmin

Bowditch Bottoms – 87 Acres

February 6, 2020/by sahcadmin

Byrd Farm – Mitchell County

Local Farms for Local Food

Check out these local farms, which produce on land protected by SAHC.

“People are always going to need healthy food to eat, and if we use all the land for development, we won’t have anywhere to farm.”

Betty ReevesReeves Homeplace Farm

“We have been able to expand our vegetable production with the peace of mind that the land that we are leasing will never be threatened by development.”

Aaron GrierGaining Ground Farm

Protect Your Farm!

Whether your concern about your land involves property taxes, the possible sale of your land, transfer of land to the next generation, or a potential conservation easement, we want to talk with you.

Find Out More

Our Mission

The mission of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is to conserve the unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for all people to enjoy outdoor recreation in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, enduring for future generations. We achieve this through long-term conservation relationships with private landowners and public agencies and owning and managing land. We are committed to creating and supporting equitable, healthy and thriving communities for everyone in our region.