Working Lands Protection & Farm Viability
Supporting Working Lands & Farm Futures
Carolina Land & Lakes is actively working to expand opportunities for working lands conservation easements that help farmers keep land in agricultural production while strengthening long-term farm viability. These easements are designed to protect productive farmland, support generational transfer, and provide financial flexibility for farmers through voluntary, landowner-driven agreements.
While dedicated funding for this initiative is still being pursued, we are laying the groundwork now — building partnerships, identifying priority agricultural landscapes, and developing projects that will be ready to move forward as funding becomes available. We welcome conversations with farmers interested in preserving their working lands, as well as funders and partners seeking to invest in long-term agricultural resilience, food security, and rural economies.
Innovative Energy Solutions
Whether it is weatherizing commercial or agricultural buildings, replacing incandescent lighting or identifying available credits and grants for renewables, Carolina Land & Lakes works with local governments, chambers of commerce and extension office to publicize the many opportunities available to the community.
Carolina Land & Lakes is dedicated to assisting small business owners and farmers achieve their goals for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Energy Efficiency Realized
Carolina Land & Lakes also serves as an informed resource and connector to farmers, integrators, dairy producers, growers and small business helping them to become more energy efficient through the application of free and low cost professional energy assessments and grants.
Examples include:
- Helping apple growers realize the economic benefit of converting to solar power for their large coolers
- Helping dairy farmers convert to renewables for their HVAC systems
- Upgraded refrigeration system with thermal curtains in the packing house on a blueberry farm
- Utilization of wood pellets (pellets for pullets) made from leftover saw dust and shavings to heat poultry houses and greenhouses.
ECAP- Energy Cost-Share Assistance Program
Carolina Land & Lakes is working to bring new energy efficient solutions to local farmers and small businesses in North Carolina. Carolina Land & Lakes works with the Energy Cost-Share Assistance Program (ECAP), a program designed to help small businesses and farms find grants and other resources for projects such as: LED lighting, greenhouse insulation, solar PV, and many other innovative solutions.
The program offers free services to anyone looking to be more energy efficient and helps them discover cost savings that most people do not even think about. Some of the free services include:
- Site assessments for renewable energy projects
- Energy audits for energy efficiency projects
- Connection to project funding sources
- Information on grid interconnection policies and tax credits
Bio Energy Efforts
Carolina Land & Lakes believes that utilization of bioenergy compliments the current use of fossil fuel and should be included in the mix of renewables like solar and wind. We believe that bio energy produced from locally sourced materials is a win- win situation for the residents, industries and farmers. In supporting a bio energy platform, we are striving to provide a cost effective solution to the utilization of locally available bio mass, a reduction of harmful greenhouse gasses and other cost benefits to our current and prospective partners.
An example is Pellets for Pullets, where we use wood pellets made from the leftover saw dust and shavings from a hardwood flooring plant and noneconomic by-products from tree removal and harvesting. This bio mass could potentially come from local state and federal lands where forest regeneration and fire and forest conservation efforts require tree removal.
Bio Energy or commonly known bio fuels is the result of processing biomass (recently living organic matter) into a stable, transportable efficient fuel source. Bio energy in addition to being renewable has a number of benefits including costs, a reduction of greenhouse gasses and utilizes local plant or organic resources that are generally ignored, wasted or left in the fields to decay.
