NC Choices Beginning Farmer Project

Farmer/Land Pair Spotlights

The spotlights are compiled from interviews and conversations with a wide variety of BFRD participants over the past four years. From solar farm managers to landowners to land trusts, and every farmer in between, these stories demonstrate how innovative, challenging, and rewarding the BFRD partnerships project was for all of us.

Land Trust

Building successful public land trust pairings to support farmer education in North Carolina

Marcello Cappellazzi2022-08-09T16:04:55-04:00

Triangle Land Conservancy/ Newbold Farms- Raleigh, NC

Silvopasture

Building successful silvopasture pairings to support farmer education in North Carolina

Antonia Brown2022-08-09T11:48:42-04:00

Raising Roots Farm- Hickory NC

Antonia Brown2022-08-09T11:30:47-04:00

Eliza Lawdley/ Clay Lawdley- Durham, NC

Antonia Brown2022-08-09T11:05:38-04:00

Two large black cattle eating hay. They are located in a low density forested area and have trees on either side of them. In the background is a high density forest area with a fence

Andrea Chandler Farm- Pittsboro, NC

Marcello Cappellazzi2022-08-01T09:43:14-04:00

A portait shot of a man in a baseball hat. Behind him are trees and green grass

Jeff Byrd/ Byrd Family Trust- Broadway, NC

Solar

Building successful solar pairings to support farmer education in North Carolina

Antonia Brown2022-08-09T15:56:29-04:00

Solar panels on the left side of the photo. Sheep and a herding dog are in the center of the photo walking towards the fence. A fence encirlces the area and solar panels

Strata Solar/ Lance Tabor- Reidsville, NC

Antonia Brown2022-08-09T15:30:50-04:00

Landscape view of a fall/barren scene with brown trees and shrubs. In the middle ground on the left are a few solar panels

Renew Petra Solar/ Alex Grier- Asheboro & Salisbury, NC

Marcello Cappellazzi2022-08-09T16:00:21-04:00

A portrait shot of a man with a hard hat and vest. Behind him are solar panels and sheep against a gray sky

Strata Solar/ Troy Givan- Reidsville, NC

The project team established seven stages to delineate the work of creating these partnerships and preparing both farmer and landowner for their roles and responsibilities:

Stage 1: Information Capture (average 2 weeks)

Farmer/landowner or NCC staff fill out Google Form with initial information
Brief online research to determine legitimacy
Extension outreach and meetings or referrals resulting in Google Form data
Primary barriers: staff capacity

Stage 2: Preliminary Analysis (average 3 weeks)

Initial phone call to discuss needs, capacity, locations
Review submitted data and conduct online supplemental research if necessary
Reach out to area Extension contact for additional information if necessary
Primary barriers: scheduling conflicts

Stage 3: Verification Checkpoint (average 1 week)

Confirm all project requirements met
Confirm capacity of farmer and/or landowner to meet project goals
Sign NDA if required for proceeding with agreement
Identify levels of TA/training needed by farmer or landowner during process and adjust staff duties accordingly
Primary barrier: incomplete/missing information Stage 4: Financial & Legal (average 10 weeks) • Develop, submit, and revise draft budget with TA from NCC staff
Explore and confirm required levels of insurance
NCC staff conduct at least 2 phone calls with partner to discuss needs, identify issues, and create solutions
Primary barriers: required resource development of template budgets and leases to support simpler negotiations and standard language; cost of insurance; cost of infrastructure

Stage 5: Negotiation (average 4 weeks)

Develop, revise, and negotiate draft agreement with TA from NCC Staff o Agreement includes information on budget, legal, liability, insurance, land activity, milestones, required interviews with NCC staff, and reporting
NCC staff facilitates at least one partnership meeting to review and discuss agreement provisions
Primary barriers: solar company and land conservancy legal approval processes; conservancy funding delays (nonprofit / grant-related delays)

Stage 6: Partnership Kickoff (average 1 week)

Both parties sign/execute partnership agreement
Initial payments received, including any support from BRFD grant sources
Land activity begins
Initial Lessons Learned interview (1 of 3) held with both parties
Primary barriers: weather delays

Stage 7: Partnership Evaluation (average 1 week)

Six-Month and/or One-Year Check-In Interviews (depending on date of partnership kickoff)
Process revision after each of three check-in interviews
Final process guide developed at end of three-year grant using lessons learned from pairing participants
Primary barriers: scheduling

The case studies presented reflected partnerships that made it to late and final stage development. In addition to these partnerships, approximately 40 other partner pairings made it to early stage development but for various reasons, the partnerships ended or did not form. For lessons learned on those visit Building Successful Partnerships for Silvopasture, Solar, and Public Land Models and A Comprehensive Guide to Building Land Lease Partnerships for Silvopasture, Solar, and Public Lands

This project is supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program competitive grant no. 2018-70017-28550 of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.