New farmers face dwindling land, soaring prices in Triangle (NC)

In the fast-growing Triangle, farmland is often lost to development and the price of the arable land that remains has skyrocketed, putting it out of reach of young farmers. To ease the challenges faced by would-be farmers like Saile, local conservation and agricultural groups are joining forces to preserve farmland in the Triangle and boost the region’s agricultural industry.Conservation Trust for North Carolina, Community Food Lab, Triangle Land Conservancy and other groups recently created a strategy for conserving important farmland in Wake, Durham, Orange, Johnston and Chatham counties. They want to encourage more people to become farmers by helping both new and existing farmers succeed.The goal is not only to preserve working farms, but also to feed the growing demand for local food. Less than 0.1 percent of food spending in the region is direct farm-to-consumer, meaning there is much more potential, said Edgar Miller, government relations director for the Conservation Trust.