800 Farms Disappeared and Nobody Called a Meeting | CLT Daily

Description

Between 2017 and 2022, the 14 counties around Charlotte lost about 800 farms — an 8% drop, with roughly 9,000 left and the survivors consolidating into fewer, larger operations. Roland McReynolds of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association explains why the hard part isn't staying in farming, it's starting, and why a food supply that depends on distant truck routes is a risk we already learned about once. Charlotte has a moratorium on data centers and a live debate about air conditioning in rentals. Farmland has neither. Plus: the CMS board's seventh closed session with school 18 days away, a second in-custody death at the county jail in a week, Atrium's quiet WakeMed briefings — and Luke Kuechly's gold jacket.

CLT Daily — Charlotte's independent daily briefing. New episodes every morning. cltdaily.com

Sources this episode: WFAE, Charlotte Urban Institute, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Here's the fun part first. Tomorrow, a man who played eight years of linebacker in this city gets a gold jacket in Canton. I'll get to him at the end of the show, but first, this is CLT Daily. I'm Steve Baboulis. It's Friday, August 7th, your independent daily briefing for the Queen City. Today, the Charlotte region lost 800 farms in five years, and almost nobody noticed. That's from Charlotte Urban Institute Research, reported this morning by WFAE. Between 2017 and 2022, across the 14 counties around Charlotte, about 800 farms disappeared. An 8% drop. Roughly 9,000 are left. And the ones still standing are getting bigger, because the way a farm usually disappears isn't a bulldozer, it's a neighbor buying it. Roland McReynolds runs the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. He points at two pressures, land costs, and the cost of everything a farm needs to operate. Quote, It just makes it really hard for new farmers to get into the business and get access to land and equipment. Sit with that. Not hard to keep farming. Hard to start. Because in a region growing like this one, farmland isn't competing against other farmland. It's competing against subdivisions, warehouses, and, as we've discussed all week, data centers. An acre of soybeans you has to out-earn an acre that could hold 40 townhomes. It can't. It never could. So the question isn't whether farms are disappearing. They are. The question is what goes with them. McReynolds frames it as risk. Quote, When we are reliant on distant areas to provide those needs, we're at more risk of catastrophic disruptions like we saw during the pandemic. This isn't nostalgia for Barnes. Every farm inside a two-hour drive you is a food supply that doesn't depend on a truck route staying open. We all learned in 2020 what happens when those routes stop. North Carolina agriculture is more than $110 billion a year. This isn't a small industry losing to a big one. It's a big industry losing to a more profitable one. What McReynolds wants is unglamorous, local policy protecting farmland from development pressure and real local markets. so a small farm can actually sell what it grows to the city next door. Worth noticing this particular week. Charlotte has a moratorium on data centers. It's debating whether landlords must provide air conditioning. Those are real fights about what this city becomes. Farmland has no moratorium and no committee. It's just quietly going. All right, here's what else you need to know today. The Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board met behind closed doors again last night. The seventh time. Superintendent Crystal Hill has been on paid leave since June 17th, and the board still hasn't said publicly what the investigation is about, describing it only as matters involving administrative and operational oversight. Last night ran about four hours. Board Chair Stephanie Sneed issued a statement afterwards saying the board understands the importance of a timely resolution. School starts August 25th. That's 18 days for Charlotte families to find out whether their superintendent is coming back. A man died in the Mecklenburg County Jail Wednesday night. Dominique Chisholm, 33, was found unresponsive in his housing unit just before 1130. He'd been in custody since April and was pronounced dead about an hour after reaching the hospital. The sheriff's office, the SBI, and the medical examiner are investigating. Cause of death hasn't been released. It's the second in-custody death at that jail in a week, and Atrium Health, headquartered here, is absorbing WakeMed in Raleigh. This week, Atrium and WakeMed executives briefed Wake County commissioners in small private groups rather than a public forum. Charlotte's hospital system is about to get considerably bigger, and that conversation is happening quietly, now as promised. Tomorrow night, in Canton, Luke Keckley goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Eight seasons, all of them here, and he walked away at 28 with plenty left. Closer to home, Charlotte FC hosts Atlas FC tonight at 7.30. The Fray plays Skyla tonight. Brian Adams and Pat Benatar are at the Spectrum Center tomorrow, Mumford and Suns Sunday. And Charlotte Pride takes up town next weekend. That's CLT Daily for Friday, August 7th. I'm Steve Baboulis. We'll be back tomorrow, same time, same city. Until then, Charlotte, take care of each other.

Description

CLT Daily — Charlotte's independent daily briefing. New episodes every morning. cltdaily.com

Sources this episode: WFAE, Charlotte Urban Institute, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Here's the fun part first. Tomorrow, a man who played eight years of linebacker in this city gets a gold jacket in Canton. I'll get to him at the end of the show, but first, this is CLT Daily. I'm Steve Baboulis. It's Friday, August 7th, your independent daily briefing for the Queen City. Today, the Charlotte region lost 800 farms in five years, and almost nobody noticed. That's from Charlotte Urban Institute Research, reported this morning by WFAE. Between 2017 and 2022, across the 14 counties around Charlotte, about 800 farms disappeared. An 8% drop. Roughly 9,000 are left. And the ones still standing are getting bigger, because the way a farm usually disappears isn't a bulldozer, it's a neighbor buying it. Roland McReynolds runs the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. He points at two pressures, land costs, and the cost of everything a farm needs to operate. Quote, It just makes it really hard for new farmers to get into the business and get access to land and equipment. Sit with that. Not hard to keep farming. Hard to start. Because in a region growing like this one, farmland isn't competing against other farmland. It's competing against subdivisions, warehouses, and, as we've discussed all week, data centers. An acre of soybeans you has to out-earn an acre that could hold 40 townhomes. It can't. It never could. So the question isn't whether farms are disappearing. They are. The question is what goes with them. McReynolds frames it as risk. Quote, When we are reliant on distant areas to provide those needs, we're at more risk of catastrophic disruptions like we saw during the pandemic. This isn't nostalgia for Barnes. Every farm inside a two-hour drive you is a food supply that doesn't depend on a truck route staying open. We all learned in 2020 what happens when those routes stop. North Carolina agriculture is more than $110 billion a year. This isn't a small industry losing to a big one. It's a big industry losing to a more profitable one. What McReynolds wants is unglamorous, local policy protecting farmland from development pressure and real local markets. so a small farm can actually sell what it grows to the city next door. Worth noticing this particular week. Charlotte has a moratorium on data centers. It's debating whether landlords must provide air conditioning. Those are real fights about what this city becomes. Farmland has no moratorium and no committee. It's just quietly going. All right, here's what else you need to know today. The Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board met behind closed doors again last night. The seventh time. Superintendent Crystal Hill has been on paid leave since June 17th, and the board still hasn't said publicly what the investigation is about, describing it only as matters involving administrative and operational oversight. Last night ran about four hours. Board Chair Stephanie Sneed issued a statement afterwards saying the board understands the importance of a timely resolution. School starts August 25th. That's 18 days for Charlotte families to find out whether their superintendent is coming back. A man died in the Mecklenburg County Jail Wednesday night. Dominique Chisholm, 33, was found unresponsive in his housing unit just before 1130. He'd been in custody since April and was pronounced dead about an hour after reaching the hospital. The sheriff's office, the SBI, and the medical examiner are investigating. Cause of death hasn't been released. It's the second in-custody death at that jail in a week, and Atrium Health, headquartered here, is absorbing WakeMed in Raleigh. This week, Atrium and WakeMed executives briefed Wake County commissioners in small private groups rather than a public forum. Charlotte's hospital system is about to get considerably bigger, and that conversation is happening quietly, now as promised. Tomorrow night, in Canton, Luke Keckley goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Eight seasons, all of them here, and he walked away at 28 with plenty left. Closer to home, Charlotte FC hosts Atlas FC tonight at 7.30. The Fray plays Skyla tonight. Brian Adams and Pat Benatar are at the Spectrum Center tomorrow, Mumford and Suns Sunday. And Charlotte Pride takes up town next weekend. That's CLT Daily for Friday, August 7th. I'm Steve Baboulis. We'll be back tomorrow, same time, same city. Until then, Charlotte, take care of each other.

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