Sutphin Mill Farmland Protection Initiative

Thomas Wade and Lillie B. Patterson. Sale of Conservation Easement.

Patterson Farm was the first farm protected by PLC in the agricultural community of Sutphin Mill.  When put up for sale in 1996, this 138-acre farm was providing support crops to three significant dairies in the community.  Additionally, the farm was located squarely within the center of the community; hence, its conversion to non-agricultural development would change the community’s very character.  Rather than quietly watching their community change, the community took action to protect their community’s character and heritage.

The Patterson Family sold the farm to the American Farmland Trust (AFT), a national organization working to protect farmland.  Meanwhile, PLC raised the necessary funds to purchase the farm’s development rights from AFT and the community identified conservation buyers, Charlie Bolton and his wife, Ruth Leight, to purchase the farm subject to an agricultural easement prohibiting non-agricultural development and protecting the farm’s agricultural soils, scenic value, and open space character.

Project funding provided by the Weaver Foundation, Kathleen Price Bryan Family Fund, Hillsdale Fund and the Alamance Foundation.

Gary Phillips and Gail Crider.  Donation of Conservation Easement.  Gail Crider.  Donation of Conservation Easement

Protected in 1996, the Crider-Phillips Farm was the second farm protected in the Sutphin Mill Community and the first donated easement.  As with Patterson Farm, this easement prohibits non-agricultural development on the property and ensures that prime agricultural soils are protected.  Additionally, the easement protects a wooded stream corridor whose wildlife habitat and scenic value further enhances the rural character of Sutphin Mill.

 In 2004, Gail Crider began to build a single-family residential dwelling on Crider Farm I.  The building location was on prime agricultural soil and violated the easement terms.  PLC allowed Gail to proceed with building the home impacting one acre of prime soil in exchange for a second easement over an adjoining three-and-a-half acres of prime soils.  This resolution respected the original intentions of all parties while enhancing the conservation values being protected.

Project funding provided by the landowner and the Weaver Foundation.

Jean Handy.  Donation of Conservation Easement.
One of the first three conservation easements granted in the Sutphin Mill Community, this farm was protected in 1996.  The protection of this farm ensured that the property cannot be developed for non-agricultural purposes and that its open space character will be retained.  Situated adjacent to the previously protected Crider Farm, the protection of this farm contributes to the long-term viability of agriculture in the Sutphin Mill Community and brought the total protected acres in Sutphin Mill to about 220 acres. 

 Project funding provided by the landowner and the Weaver Foundation.

David and Dixie Newlin.  Bargain Sale of Conservation Easement.

In 1999, PLC purchased the development rights over 122 acres of Hickory Grove Dairy Farm at a bargain sale (below fair market value).  As the fourth farm to be permanently protected in the Sutphin Mill Community, the impact of  protecting Hickory Grove Dairy extends beyond its boundaries.  Each new easement granted is a reaffirmation of the community’s resolve to cooperatively work together to remain an agriculturally-based community and to preserve shared values. 

Project funding provided by the landowner, NC Farmland Preservation Trust Fund via the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, Kathleen Price Bryan Family Fund, and the Alamance Foundation.

Jeanette Hadley, James Hadley, and Gary & Teresa Hadley. Bargain Sale of Conservation Easements.

As one of North Carolina’s top industries, agriculture is an important part of the state’s economy.  Consequently, the protection of farmland ensuring that the land’s capacity to be used for agriculture is not lost supports the state’s economy.  However, for a farmer making the decision to permanently protect one’s farm can be a double-edged sword.  On the one hand the easement ensures that the land’s agricultural capacity will not be lost through its conversion to non-agricultural development.  On the other hand, the land is one of the farmer’s main assets and by granting an easement over it the value of the land is diminished because the easement prohibits development to non-agricultural uses. 
The solution to this issue for many farmers is to compensate them for part or all of the development rights that they are giving up through the easement.  By selling the development rights granted in the conservation easement, the farmer is provided with cash to use as best suits their needs.  For the Hadley Family, selling the development rights to part of their farm provided them with capital needed to successfully transition from a traditional dairy farm to raising heifers for other dairy farms.
Adjacent to previously protected Hickory Grove Dairy Farm, Hadley Brothers Farm encompasses several tracts of rolling pastures interspersed with forests and meandering tributaries to Cane Creek.  In 2001, PLC purchased conservation easements over three tracts farmed by the Hadley Family in a bargain sale transaction.  With the completion of these three easements, 484 contiguous acres on five farms in the Sutphin Mill Community have been permanently protected.  

Project funding provided by the landowners and the North Carolina Farmland Preservation Trust Fund via the Conservation Trust for North Carolina.