Boone held a meeting Thursday to solicit public input on its long-range agricultural plan. Measures that might prevent farmland from disappearing include agricultural zoning, allowing Christmas tree and cattle farming on steep slopes, and “taking outside money.”

According to the Watauga Democrat, “The project is funded by a grant given to the Watauga County Soil and Water Conservation District.” The High Country Press discloses that the grant came from taxpayers via the North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. The program is entitled “Watauga County Farming for the Future: Shaping a Vision for a Vibrant Agricultural Economy,” and the plan will be written by consultants from Unique Places, Durham, NC.