NC govwatch

← All meetings

Agriculture Advisory Board Meeting

Chatham County · Agriculture Advisory Board
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at 7:00 pm · Little Way Farm, 5778 Siler City Snow Camp Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344

Advisory board meeting Farmland and open spaceAppointments and personnelElections and districtsGrants and outside fundingRezoningState legislative agenda

Agenda document Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved IIIApproval of March 11, 2025 Meeting Notes Approved unanimously

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

Chatham County's Agriculture Advisory Board met at Little Way Farm outside Siler City on 10 June 2025, its last meeting of the fiscal year. It elected officers, heard that the county has won a $295,000 state grant for farmland preservation, and reviewed House Bill 126.

The farm's owner, a board member, described running a direct-to-consumer meat and honey business in its fifth year, mostly on subscriptions shipped or delivered.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Six of nine members attended. The board re-elected Dave Eskelund as chair for one more term, which he said would be his last, elected Kathryn Beckerdite vice chair, and nominated Anita Kennedy to fill the seat of Dr. John Dykers, who did not renew and stays on as an emeritus member. That nomination was unanimous, and it was voided three months later by the county's new advisory committee policy, which the board then made again.

The state's new Agricultural Growth Zone program creates a separate pool for farmland preservation, and Chatham has $295,000 from it. The Triangle Land Conservancy's Chatham associate will help carry it out, with an easement process much like the regular farmland preservation grants but more direct. The board also has a new Chatham Farmland Preservation logo, paid for by a state grant, and a farmland transition workshop on 26 June and 10 July with the American Farmland Trust, the Land Loss Prevention Project and NC FarmLink.

How the votes went

The March minutes and the slate of officers and the new member nomination both passed unanimously.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Chatham County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (8)

Procedural · 4Minutes approval · 1Appointment · 1Discussion item · 1Staff or committee report · 1
  1. I Call to Order
    Procedural
  2. II Roll Call
    Procedural
    Six members present, three absent
  3. III Approval of March 11, 2025 Meeting Notes
    Minutes approval
    Approved unanimously
  4. IV Officer and member elections
    Appointment Appointments and personnelElections and districts
    Officers for the coming year and a nomination to fill an expiring seat.
    Dave Eskelund chair, Kathryn Beckerdite vice chair, Anita Kennedy nominated as a member pending commissioner approval, unanimously
  5. V Binder Distribution
    Procedural
  6. VI House Bill 126 Review
    Discussion item Farmland and open spaceRezoningState legislative agenda
    State legislation letting a voluntary agricultural district member whose zoning is changing request a hearing before this board.
  7. VII Farmland Preservation Update
    Staff or committee report Farmland and open spaceGrants and outside funding
    A $295,000 Agricultural Growth Zone grant from the state agriculture department, a farmland transition workshop on June 26 and July 10, and a new Chatham Farmland Preservation logo.
  8. VIII Next Meeting
    Procedural
    Tuesday, September 9

Other recent meetings of this board