USDA EQIP General – Rolling Conservation Assistance

USDA EQIP General – Rolling Conservation Assistance is sponsored by USDA NRCS (Environmental Quality Incentives Program). Ongoing financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers and private forest managers addressing natural resource concerns (including animal‑related habitat).

Applying to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program - Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Technical Assistance Programs Farmer-to-Farmer Mentorship Program Climate Resilience & Disaster Recovery Lomax Farm & Research Projects Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference Sustainable Agriculture Conference Farmer Crowdfunding Board Technical Assistance Programs Farmer-to-Farmer Mentorship Program Climate Resilience & Disaster Recovery Lomax Farm & Research Projects Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference Sustainable Agriculture Conference Farmer Crowdfunding Board Applying to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a federally administered program designed to help growers address natural resource concerns by providing financial and technical assistance.

The program focuses on soil, water, air quality, plant health, and habitat for wildlife. Note: If you want information about the EQIP-funded Conservation Planning Activities (CPA) and Design and Implementation Activities (DIA) Supporting Organic Transition and Soil Health, visit our Conservation Planning page.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is a voluntary conservation program designed to provide financial and technical assistance to growers who have environmental resource concerns on their land.

This program offers cost-share assistance for implementing conservation practices that address resource concerns on agricultural lands. NATURAL RESOURCE CONCERNS The primary areas of concern are soil quality and erosion, water quality, plant and animal health and biodiversity, wildlife habitat, air quality, and energy conservation. Must control or own eligible land.

Comply with adjusted gross income (AGI) limitation provisions. Comply with the highly erodible land (HEL) and wetland conservation requirements. Develop an NRCS EQIP conservation plan.

There are a few steps required for application to the EQIP cost-share program. Contact your local NRCS District Conservationist in North Carolina or South Carolina to identify the resource concerns at your operation. If you are eligible for assistance they can assist you in completing the application process.

If you have not already registered your farm with the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) , do so as soon as possible by: Completing the Member’s Information form ( CCC901 ) and either: the Farm Operating Plan for an Individual ( CCC902I ) or the Farm Operating Plan for an Entity ( CCC902E ).

Additional required forms include: Average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Statement ( CCC926 ) and either the Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information – Individual ( CCC927 ) or the Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information – Legal Entity ( CCC928 ), depending on your operation type. Eligible producers are encouraged to submit applications anytime throughout the year.

However, NRCS State Offices announce prioritized funding periods throughout the year based on available funding, at which time they rank and fund eligible applications. Getting your conservation plan completed well before any announced application deadlines is wise. Sometimes, the USDA field offices cannot respond to late-arriving requests for planning assistance due to their workload and local priorities.

21 Hillsboro Street, Suite 4 Technical Assistance Programs Technical Assistance Programs Farmer-to-Farmer Mentorship Program Climate Resilience & Disaster Recovery Lomax Farm & Research Projects Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference Sustainable Agriculture Conference Farmer Crowdfunding Board 3111 Greenhill Rd, Snow Camp 27349 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Green Heal Farm anticipates having samples for visitors.

Farmer Rep: Kenny Boodman & Courtney Martin For Sale: Cut flowers, possible strawberries, lettuce, arugula, salad mix, spinach and other seasonal produce. About the Farm: In late April, visitors to Green Heal Farms will see vibrant rows of early spring vegetables, blooming perennial pollinator flowers, and honey bees actively pollinating the fields.

Guests can walk the farm, observe sustainable practices in action, and experience a peaceful, regenerative landscape rooted in community and care. 198 Celebrity Dairy Way, Siler City 27344 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Celebrity Dairy anticipates having samples, snacks, and prepared meals available for purchase.

Farmer Reps: Brit & Fleming Pfann For Sale: Cheese, gelato, fudge, skyr, and variety of food and beverage options. About the Farm: Celebrity Dairy is situated on 340 acres, featuring several pre-civil war era buildings including the original log cabin, smokehouse, corn crib and hay barn. It also hosts a 15 acres pond that is home to many bird species.

April is a special time at Celebrity Dairy as the barn is bustling with baby goats, and their moms are in full milk, so we are as busy as always turning that milk into our many special products. Stop by to sample a few, and maybe take some home too!

2059 Laws Store Rd, Hurdle Mills 27541 Farmer Reps: Ashley Parker, Jason Conway, & Clay Parker For Sale: Cut flower bouquets About the Farm: Our family farm in northern Orange County has been involved in continuous agricultural production for over 100 years and is recognized as a century farm.

Our diverse operation includes grass finished beef cattle, laying hens, fresh produce and herbs, cut flowers, wheat, corn, soybeans and muscadine grapes. Our farm tour will include seeing our pastures, flower fields and gambrel barn. Boxcarr Farms & Boxcarr Handmade Cheese 2207 Carr Store Rd, Cedar Grove 27231 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm.

SNACK SPOT: Boxcarr Farms anticipates having samples, snacks, and prepared meals available for purchase. Farmer Reps: Austin Genke, Dani Copeland, & Samantha Genke For Sale: Baby goats and a variety of cheeses. About the Farm: Spend the afternoon meeting the Boxcarr Farms dairy goat herd and nibbling on award-winning cheeses made at our on-site creamery.

We will have self-guided tours of our 30-acre farm and spacious milking parlor, with delicious foods to snack on. Spring kidding will be in full swing, and the baby goats would love to meet you! The Farm at Common Ground Ecovillage 5797 Daisy Evans Gunn Trail, Mebane 27302 Special Directions: Our address cannot be found on Apple Maps.

People must use Google Maps or some other service to find 5797 Daisy Evans Gunn Trail. KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: The Farm at Common Ground Ecovillage anticipates having samples and snacks available for purchase.

Farmer Reps: Doug Jones, Caleb Buchbinder, Lucas Babinec, Kai Madrone, & Goni Ronen For Sale: Various seasonal vegetables, vegetable seedlings, herbal medicines, baked goods, other ready-to-eat snacks About the Farm: Learn about our Agrarian Intentional Community, our transition to No-Till soil management, our extensive seed saving and plant breeding work, pollinator habitat beds, experiments with staple crops like peanuts and flour corn, plus our elaborate season extension techniques which provide a year-round supply of veggies to our CSA.

Visit our shiitake mushroom operation, “caterpillar” production tunnels, worm composting beds, and cover crop fields. Baked goods with various farm-grown ingredients will be available. Hear music played by local musicians!

4001 Teer Rd, Chapel Hill 27516 SNACK SPOT: WildSide Farm anticipates having samples for visitors. Farmer Reps: Debbie & Walt Tysinger For Sale: Plant starts, vegetables, possibly we will have strawberries to pick About the Farm: WildSide Farm is transforming a former conventional dairy into a biodiverse, regenerative haven on 70 rolling acres near Chapel Hill.

Our mission is to rehabilitate soil health, restore water systems, and nurture wildlife habitats, while producing nutrient-dense food for our community. Learn about our expanded u-pick offerings, which include thornless blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, muscadine grapes, and a variety of vegetables.

See how we are reshaping our 1-acre market garden — which supplies our online store and farmers boxes — to focus more on u-pick crops and hands-on family experiences, emphasizing where food comes from and regenerative techniques that grow healthier, tastier produce without chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Explore our thriving market garden, expanding berry patches, muscadine grape vineyard, young 400+ tree chestnut orchard, and budding perennial food forest. These are all part of our commitment to long-term, land-stewarding food systems. Visit the historic dairy barn, hike our trails, enjoy the open spaces, and picnic by the pond!

5778 Siler City Snow Camp Rd, Siler City 27734 Farmer Reps: Joe & Michelle Sroka For Sale: Beef, pork, chicken, eggs, milk, honey, flour, lamb, seafood, peanut butter. About the Farm: Little Way Farm is a small-scale family farm providing pasture-raised meats, eggs, dairy, and honey. We utilize regenerative, intensive rotational grazing practices that create partnerships among animals and steward healthy soil.

When you visit our farm, you’ll see rotational grazing partnerships among grass-fed cows and pastured chickens and how woodland-raised hogs create a more beneficial habitat for plants and trees. Stop by our farm store and community hub to take home some of our farm’s offerings!

220 Lorax Lane, Pittsboro 27312 Special Directions: The main field is located behind BMC Brewing but the whole campus of The Plant has edible landscaping and perennials that we harvest from. KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: The Plant campus is home to a number of food and beverage vendors.

For Sale: We won’t have farm products but The Plant has food and beverage available. Other vendors include Hempsmith Clothing, a candle shop, and a native nursery. About the Farm: We are a sustainable farm located at The Plant NC which is an old aluminum plant that has been repurposed into a food and beverage campus.

We have pollinator gardens and native plants around our fields and encourage conservation by building permanent, perennial beds- which you will find a mix of perennial gardens spread across the whole project, in addition to fenced in fields for annual veggie production. It’s a great place to start the day with lunch or end the tour with a drink on the pavers.

265 Granite Springs Rd, Pittsboro 27312 Farmer Reps: Meredith Leight, Luis, and Allie Gochez For Sale: Ginger and turmeric plants, tomato seedlings, patio citrus trees, produce. About the Farm: Granite Springs Farm is a diversified vegetable farm ten minutes from downtown Pittsboro. Visiting our farm, you’ll see cover crops growing for soil fertility, and for mulch.

Check out our mini round baler! While you’re here, see our large red wiggler worm habitat, and learn how we make vermicompost sprays and other potions for our plants. See our pollinator garden and hear about the research done here by an NC State entomologist.

Visit our newly planted geothermally heated paradise for citrus and other subtropical fruits! 573 Dewitt Smith Rd, Pittsboro 27312 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Chatham Oaks Farms anticipates having vendors or a food truck available.

For Sale: U-pick and pre-picked strawberries. About the Farm: Chatham Oaks Farm is a family-run strawberry farm in southwestern Chatham County, dedicated to growing sweet, seasonal berries for our local community. During the Piedmont Farm Tour, guests can pick their own strawberries or grab a box of freshly pre-picked berries to take home.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about the strawberry growing process directly from owners Justin and Rachel, who are excited to share how they care for the crop from planting to harvest. Be sure to stop by our newly renovated barn, now a welcoming space for visitors to gather—and available to rent for events and special occasions. We can’t wait to welcome you!

2503 Joyner Rd, Durham 27704 For Sale: Vegetable, herb and native plants, microgreens, produce, cut flowers, dry flower crafts. About the Farm: The farm produces a wide variety of products on a small scale, making it an interesting example of what can be possible on less than 2 acres. From growing microgreens to cut flowers, to both common and uncommon produce, to a nursery growing herbs, vegetables, and native plants, to workshops.

Visitors will get to tour the various vegetable garden areas, plant nursery, greenhouse, high tunnels, orchard, herb, and native plant gardens. There’s even a possibility to spot local wildlife such as songbirds, turtles, ducks, and the geese that nest on the pond! 1310 N Mineral Springs Rd, Durham 27703 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm.

SNACK SPOT: Jireh Family Farm anticipates having snacks available for purchase. Farmer Reps: Immanuel and Valarie Jarvis For Sale: For Sale: Beef, chicken, pork, eggs, herbal tea, vegetables, fresh herbs. About the Farm: At Jireh Family Farm, visitors in late April can experience a blend of animal husbandry and flourishing herb gardens.

Explore how we raise healthy livestock while cultivating medicinal and culinary herbs, all in a welcoming, faith-centered environment. Visitors can learn about humane care techniques that ensure healthy, stress-free animals, while also exploring how we grow medicinal and culinary herbs to support both livestock health and community wellness.

As a Black-owned farm rooted in faith, we are dedicated to creating a welcoming, inclusive space that connects sustainable agriculture with holistic health education. 2080 Sawmill Parkway, Durham 27707 SNACK SPOT: Catawba Trail Farm anticipates having snacks available for purchase.

Farmer Reps: Delphine Sellars & Urban Community AgriNomics (UCAN) For Sale: Variety of seasonal vegetables and herbs, honey (harvested on the farm from our hives), wooden products made from cedar trees grown on the farm, and seedlings for spring and summer planting. About the Farm: As one of the oldest farms in Durham County, there’s plenty to take in at Catawba Trail Farm.

While visiting the reclaimed historic farmstead, visitors will see a mixture of old and new farm buildings, a large community garden, a youth garden with an outdoor classroom, a high tunnel, a small fruit orchard, the farm’s bees, and chickens.

Visitors can walk on an original section of the Great Native American Trading Path, meander along its miles of walking trails to the Little River, see the oldest marked gravesite in Durham County, and visit a memorialized gravesite of the Enslaved while learning about the farm’s history from the 1800s to the present day.

Hear the story behind two beautiful murals drawn by local artistians, the environmental friendly process of creating new agriculture space, and the additional activities of their new naturally enriched farm acreage.

The Garden at Spring Forest 1907 New Sharon Church Road, Hillsborough 27278 Special Directions: Be sure to turn down the driveway with the sign with the Spring Forest Celtic Tree of Life, and the number 1907 on the mailbox post. (Google maps sometimes sends people to the neighbor’s driveway.) KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm.

SNACK SPOT: The Garden at Spring Forest anticipates having prepared meals available for purchase. Farmer Reps: Elaine Heath For Sale: Seedlings, cut flower bouquets, hot lunch.

About the Farm: At The Garden at Spring Forest, you will enjoy a guided tour of our beautiful non-certified organic market gardens, see our herd of dairy goats and chickens, walk the Spring Forest Tree Trail with over 25 tree species, enjoy a lovely meadow, and be able to purchase a delicious farm snack lovingly created by Spring Forest’s Chef Netta Edwards.

Farmer Elaine and staff will be available to answer questions and share our vision for a peaceful and equitable world. Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farms 465 Yarbrough Rd, Roxboro 27574 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farms anticipates having snacks available for purchase, and a bison burger and hot dog lunch sale on Saturday.

Farmer Reps: Jack & Sandy Pleasant For Sale: grass-fed bison steaks, ground, burger patties, hot dogs, 6 flavors of sausages, roasts, ribs, organs, 6 flavors of meat sticks & jerky. About the Farm: Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm is one of NC’s oldest farms, continuously family-owned and operated since 1797. Grass-fed bison have been raised here since 2001 using rotational grazing, no-till pasture management, and soil conservation practices.

While visiting the farm, join one of our narrated covered wagon tours through the pastures where you’ll see bison calves, cows, and bulls. We discuss farm history, bison history, handling, feeding, and bison behavior. Tours depart every 30 minutes beginning at noon!

There will be a bison burger and hot dog lunch sale at our lakeside gazebo on Saturday only. 6559 Old Stoney Mountain Rd, Burlington 27215 SNACK SPOT: Stoney Mountain Farm anticipates having snacks available, as well as snacks for purchase. Farmer Reps: John & Olga Elder For Sale: Lamb, felting kits and supplies, finished wool products including yarn, roving and raw wool, tshirts and hats.

About the Farm: Dating back to the late 1700s, Stoney Mountain Farm sits on 56 acres just off the beaten path in Burlington and is home to three unique breeds of endangered sheep raised for their wool. You’ll see young lambs alongside their mothers and get to meet our guard llamas! We’ll have a few outdoor activities for the little ones and plenty of tables and vistas to sit and take it all in.

There will be guided walking farm tours on the hour where you can learn how we implement rotational grazing systems and land/water conservation along with our permaculture system. And for anyone interested, we’ll share what we’ve learned along the way pertinent to raising sheep! Our farm store will be open with our sheep-related products for sale.

Drinks and snacks will also be available for purchase. 2916 J A Killough Dr, Cedar Grove 27231 SNACK SPOT: Sankofa Farms anticipates having snacks available for purchase.

Farmer Reps: Kamal Bell & Amber Bell For Sale: Kale, chard, parsley, possibly eggs, copies of Akeem Keeps Bees About the Farm: Sankofa Farms is centered around solving issues involving food security for African Americans by offering an educational program for students through our agriculture academy.

We also provide various educational opportunities for members of the community and a program called Bees In The TRAP, which allows participants to develop a unique relationship with honeybees. Visitors will hear the story of Sankofa, get a chance to tour our apiary, see our layer hens, and get a peek into our caterpillar tunnels!

Ever Laughter Farm & Nursery 2921 Open Ln, Hillsborough 27278 For Sale: Vegetable, herb, and flower starts, as well as native perennials. About the Farm: Ever Laughter Farm is a small market farm that raises produce, flowers, and plants with organic and sustainable practices. In spring, our main focus is on cut flowers and our plant nursery, though the field will be full of growing vegetables.

On the tour, you can see the native pollinator plant garden that serves as a demonstration for nursery customers and diversifies the insect ecosystem on the working produce farm. The greenhouses will be full of ready-to-plant starts and pollinator plants, with plenty to take home for your gardens! Cedar Grove Blueberry Farm; Botanist & Barrel 105 Persimmon Hill Ln, Cedar Grove 27231 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm.

SNACK SPOT: Botanist & Barrel anticipates having samples, snacks, prepared meals, and a food truck on-site.

Farmer Reps: Kether Smith, Deric McGuffey, Lyndon Smith For Sale: Wine, cider, mead, non-alcoholic beverages, plant starts, local meat and cheese, and other local food products About the Farm: We are proud to be home to Botanist & Barrel Cidery and Winery, the first winery in Orange County and the South’s only natural cidery and winery. Our mission focuses on preserving heirloom apples, fruits, and culture.

Take a stroll through Cedar Grove Blueberry Farm’s blueberry and apple orchards with our orchardist while learning about our spray-free farming practices and the farm’s rich history. After your orchard walk, enjoy a guided winery tour led by one of our winemakers.

Conclude your visit with a cider or wine flight paired with a farm pizza from our wood-fired oven or fresh oysters shucked by the NC oyster farmers Morgan Klein and Griffin Canady. 5123 N NC HWY 119, Mebane 27302 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. Farmer Reps: Crystal Cavalier-Keck & Jason Keck About the Farm: YESA Farm is an Indigenous-led regenerative teaching farm rooted along the historic Occaneechi Trading Path.

In late April, visitors will see hoop houses filled with tower gardens, leafy greens, early seasonal crops, and pollinator habitat in bloom, and learn about traditional ecological knowledge, seed stewardship, and watershed protection through guided walks, hands-on activities, and community gathering spaces.

Transplanting Traditions Community Farm 2912 B Jones Ferry Rd, Chapel Hill 27516 Special Directions: PLEASE follow signs for parking. KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Transplanting Traditions Community Farm anticipate having snacks and prepared meals available for purchase.

Farmer Reps: Transplanting Traditions Community Farmers For Sale: Traditional food, flowers, and vegetables for sale. About the Farm: Transplanting Traditions is an eight-acre community farm made up of about 25 refugee families from Burma, growing a mix of traditional, Southeast Asian vegetables and more familiar American vegetables.

The farmers sell through a CSA program, at several local farmers markets, and throughout the broader refugee and immigrant community. The farm also provides a cultural gathering space for families to come together, build healthy communities, and continue agricultural traditions in the Piedmont of N. C.

Visitors can walk through our fields, see beautifully hand-crafted bamboo structures, and learn about refugees from Burma culture around good food and farming. 1400 Ferguson Rd. , Chapel Hill 27516 SNACK SPOT: Faithfull Farms anticipates having snacks available for purchase.

Farmer Reps: Howard & Ronniqua Allen For Sale: Seedlings, cut flower bouquets, blackberry plants and fig root trees. About the Farm: Faithfull Farms is a small-scale, no-till market farm that grows year-round produce for local restaurants, grocers, and the Carrboro Farmers Market. Farmer Howard will give a walking tour of the property, or visitors can do a self-guided tour.

There will be fresh produce and seedlings for sale. Visitors can relax under the pavilion. Bring lunch and have a picnic on the lawn.

9907 Leta Dr, Chapel Hill 27516 Special Directions: Park ONLY at the Kraken Bar on the corner of Hwy 54 & Dodson’s Crossroads, cross Dodson’s Crossroads to the farm driveway, and follow the footpath to the farm. SNACK SPOT: PlowGirl Farm anticipates having snacks available for purchase.

Farmer Rep: Sally Jo Slusher For Sale: “Grow your own” shiitake logs and culinary ginger pots, a variety of spring vegetables, craft beer, and cider brewed on the farm. About the Farm: Conveniently situated off Hwy 54, PlowGirl Farm is home to two acres of vegetable fields, honeybees, and Dingo Dog Brewery, a zero-waste nonprofit craft brewery whose proceeds benefit animal rescue.

Learn about the symbiotic relationship between a farmer and a brewer, see log-grown shiitake mushrooms, and explore fields of organic vegetables. You can also tour the brewery and sample or purchase craft beer and cider made with farm-grown ingredients! There will be culinary ginger pots and shiitake mushroom logs for sale so you can grow your own at home!

615 Chapel Hill Creamery Rd, Chapel Hill 27516 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Chapel Hill Creamery anticipates having samples, as well as snacks and prepared meals available for purchase. Farmer Reps: Florence Hawley & Portia McKnight For Sale: Farmhouse cheeses About the Farm: Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey….

wait a minute! What are curds? What is whey?

And above all, what is a tuffet?! While we’re not so familiar with tuffets, we know a lot about curds and whey – and so will you after visiting Chapel Hill Creamery. You’ll understand more about cheesemaking than 99% of Americans!

We’ll have a self-guided tour where you can learn about pasture grasses, see our jersey cows and their spring calves, taste our cheeses, and of course, watch us demonstrate how to make curds and whey. Plan on eating a fabulous grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, starting at noon. Looking forward to seeing you!

11 Fickle Creek Crossing, Efland 27243 SUNDAY KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 2pm on Saturday, 12pm on Sunday. SNACK SPOT: Fickle Creek Farm anticipates having snacks and prepared meals available for purchase.

Farmer Rep: Noah Ranells & Bryan Horton For Sale: Grass-fed & finished beef and lamb, beef snack sticks and jerky, pasture & woodland-raised pork, pasture-raised hen eggs, pasture-raised chicken, never-sprayed vegetables, and hot sausages to eat at our picnic tables!

About the Farm: With sheep & lambs and cows & calves on pasture, pasture and woodland-raised pigs, free-range pastured chickens and hens, egg mobiles, Great Pyrenees guard dogs, and hoop houses for produce, there is something for everyone at Fickle Creek Farm! Friendly farm staff will gladly assist you on the self-guided tour to see pastures, cover crops, and grazing animals, and learn about regenerative & sustainable farming.

Join us for music, tractor trikes, and farm-raised meats to eat at our picnic tables in the pole barn. Our farm store offers beef, pork, chicken, lamb, eggs, and veggies to take home. Bahasa, Español, Français, Hebrew, & Thai spoken here!

1122 Ossabaw Wy, Graham 27253 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Haw River Mushrooms anticipates having samples, snacks, and prepared meals available for purchase.

Farmer Reps: Ches & Laura Stewart, Annie Seifts For Sale: For sale: fresh and dried mushrooms, mushroom grow kits, a variety of frozen mushroom meals, lions mane and reishi tinctures, mushroom jerky, mushroom coffee, mushroom-powered salts and seasonings, and a selection of mushroom-themed gifts and gear.

About the Farm: Come see the mushroom growing process up close–from sawdust to harvest–at one of North Carolina’s largest mushroom farms. You’ll see how we’ve built our farm over the last 14 years and sample innovative mushroom dishes that reflect our mission to make mushroom nutrition more accessible to everyday eaters.

Join us at noon for a mushroom-tastic lunch on the farm featuring some of our award-winning dishes, and Ran-Lew Dairy ice cream for dessert! 4227 Bass Mountain Rd, Snow Camp 27349 For Sale: Strawberries, pastured chicken.

About the Farm: Come see our 2-acre annual market garden where we use organic growing practices, low-till methods, and human-scale tools in a typical market garden, but we’ve incorporated native perennials and flowers as hedgerows into our bed design for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife habitats. Check out our increasing perennial fruit production in partnership with Bountiful Backyards.

Take a walk through our new multi-species, 1-1/2 acre orchard (apples, pears, peaches, pawpaws, Asian persimmons) planted on a master line system. You’ll see a quarter-acre each of blueberries and thornless blackberries also in early production, as well as figs, pomegranates and pineapple guava.

We bring in practical permaculture strategies for our fruit plantings by selectively “guild planting” natives that provide plant, soil and wildlife diversity. You’ll also see pastured poultry for both meat and egg production, incorporated into our annual and perennial plantings to provide beneficial ecological services.

Take a look at our black soldier fly bins that supplement high-quality feed for chickens, as well as native berry shrub plantings in the orchard, both of which provide high-quality, non-grain feed. 4265 Thompson Mill Rd, Graham 27253 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. Farmer Rep: Kristen Powers For Sale: Natural, farm-to-body care products infused with herbs and flowers grown on the farm.

About the Farm: Benevolence Farm is where second chances grow naturally. Visitors will have an opportunity to learn more about how our non-profit utilizes permaculture and horticulture therapy to train and work alongside formerly incarcerated women as they return from prison. We will host activities that show visitors how we infuse oils from herbs and flowers in our value-added body care product line.

Visitors are also welcome to bring food and picnic with us or walk our trail. 5903 Swepsonville Saxapahaw Rd, Graham 27253 SNACK SPOT: Flower of Carolina anticipates having samples for visitors, and snacks available for purchase. Farmer Reps: Philip & Mackenzie Moore For Sale: Native plants, honey, mead, beeswax products, t shirts.

About the Farm: Spring is a perfect time to see native plants in action, as there are many attractions to feast for the eyes. Butterflies and other insects will be buzzing in the garden. Clear signage of robust native transplants await a perfect spot in your home garden.

Walk through our apple and fruit orchard and see fruit flowers being pollinated. Sample our honey across the years and see the differences in flavor. Have a sip of our honey wine or apple cider and take a walk through the woods on the trail to the Saxapahaw lake.

Willow Springs Farm & The Piedmont Agrarian Collaborative 2053 Willow Springs Lane, Burlington 27215 KICKOFF FARM: Opens at 12pm. SNACK SPOT: Willow Springs Farm anticipates having snacks and prepared meals for purchase. Farmer Rep: Josh Humphreys For Sale: Grass-finished beef, seasonal spring produce, pastured eggs, starts and nursery plants, a selection of Red Tail Grains, honey, and farm-to-fabric t-shirts from TS Designs.

We may also have pastured lamb, woodland-based poultry and pork. About the Farm: At Willow Springs you’ll find a festive farmers’ market organized by the farmers of Piedmont Agrarian Collaborative (PAC).

Visit the site’s gardens and the PAC food hub, and buy regenerative products, including grass-finished beef (Braeburn Farm), seasonal produce (Eat Dirt, Henry, and Machaven Farms), pastured eggs and nursery plants (Pont Reading), Red Tail Grains, honey, and t-shirts from TS Designs.

South Carolina Small Business Development Centers | Orangeburg, SC Jim Johnson is the Director of Rural Development and Agribusiness and a Senior Business Consultant with the South Carolina Small Business Development Centers (SC SBDC) at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. He resides in Orangeburg, SC with his spouse and three children.

Johnson brings extensive experience as a small business owner and entrepreneur, having owned and operated a healthcare business for 16 years, a restaurant business for seven years, and a property management company for more than 25 years. Johnson earned a Bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston and a Master of Business Administration from Claflin University.

He is a graduate of the Clemson Palmetto LEAF Leadership Program and the South Carolina Economic Development Institute. He holds professional credentials as a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) and a Certified Rural Grocery Transition Specialist. His consulting specialties center on food systems development, including agribusiness, hospitality, tourism, and rural grocery stores.

Additional areas of expertise include international trade, environmental sustainability and energy, property management, and business acquisitions. In his role with the SC SBDC, Johnson works closely with entrepreneurs, farmers, and community partners to strengthen rural economies and expand opportunities for small business growth.

Johnson has served in numerous leadership roles, including Chairman of the Midlands Local Food Collaborative, Chairman of the Tri-County Health Network, Vice-Chair of the South Carolina Food Systems Network, Co-Chair of the ASBDC Rural Agriculture Special Interest Group, and board member of the Catawba