Six farms in eastern North Carolina have been added as candidates for the third phase of a buyout program intended to close swine farms in 100-year floodplain areas devastated by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
The program was created by the Division of Soil and Water Conservation and financed by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund in the aftermath of Floyd. The goal of the program is to protect sensitive water resources within agricultural regions prone to serious flooding.
This latest round of buyouts earmarks farms in Beaufort, Greene, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties for permanent easements that will exclude feedlots on more than 140 acres of farmland, close 14 waste lagoons and establish long-term conservation measures around streams and waterways running through the properties.
Using a rating system that prioritizes farming operations by factors such as flooding susceptibility and history, downstream water use and cost, the division selected the buyout candidates from among 55 bids submitted by eligible landowners within the 100-year floodplain. A $3.8 million grant from the trust fund compensates the landowners once easements are finalized and the necessary conservation practices are in place.
Begun in 1999, the buyout program has acquired 28 swine operations and closed 48 waste lagoons from earlier phases of bidding. Once completed for all three phases, including the six farms just added, the program could potentially eliminate feedlot capacity for as many as 50,000 hogs and purchase conservation easements exceeding 1,000 acres.