Right to Farm in North Carolina (2026)
52 rules on the books across North Carolina, 33 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Farm Nuisance Protection
Whether established farms are shielded from nuisance lawsuits and from local ordinances that would restrict their operations.
North Carolina: statewide
StatewideSome RestrictionsNorth Carolina protects established agricultural and forestry operations from nuisance lawsuits under NCGS 106-701, the…
Read full rule →Alamance County
Some RestrictionsAlamance County's Voluntary Agricultural District Ordinance states its purpose is to cut down nuisance lawsuits between…
Read full rule →Cleveland County
Some RestrictionsCleveland County records a standing notice in the register of deeds warning that land near a voluntary agricultural…
Read full rule →Cumberland County
Some RestrictionsSubdivisions inside Cumberland County's designated Farmland Protection Area must carry a right-to-farm disclosure on…
Read full rule →Davidson County
Some RestrictionsDavidson County protects working farmland through its Voluntary Agricultural District Ordinance (Ch. 153), which lets…
Read full rule →Durham County
Some RestrictionsDurham County has no blanket right-to-farm statute of its own; protection comes through its Voluntary Agricultural…
Read full rule →Iredell County
Some RestrictionsIredell County lets farmers enroll land in a Voluntary Agricultural District to cut the odds of nuisance lawsuits from…
Read full rule →Rowan County
Some RestrictionsRowan County's Farmland Preservation ordinance, Chapter 8.5, declares a purpose to decrease nuisance actions between…
Read full rule →Brunswick County
Light RestrictionsBrunswick County's Voluntary Agricultural District Program states its purpose includes increasing protection of…
Read full rule →Buncombe County
Light RestrictionsBuncombe County requires notice, posted maps and a standard disclosure that spraying, manure spreading, machinery and…
Read full rule →Catawba County
Light RestrictionsCatawba County records Voluntary Agricultural Districts and posts a formal notice warning real estate buyers that…
Read full rule →Craven County
Light RestrictionsCraven County's Voluntary Agricultural District Ordinance is built to shield farms from encroaching development: it…
Read full rule →Forsyth County
Light RestrictionsForsyth County's Voluntary Agricultural District program, Code Chapter 22, exists in part to cut down nuisance suits…
Read full rule →Guilford County
Light RestrictionsGuilford County's Voluntary Agricultural District Program, run under state authority in G.S. 106-735 through 106-743…
Read full rule →Moore County
Light RestrictionsMoore County's Voluntary Agricultural District program (Moore County Code §§ 6.75-26 et seq.) lets landowners in…
Read full rule →Apex
Few RestrictionsApex's Unified Development Ordinance exempts bona fide farms from all town zoning rules under UDO Sec. 1.4.4, covering…
Read full rule →Harnett County
Few RestrictionsHarnett County's Unified Development Ordinance exempts bona fide farms in the unincorporated county from its zoning…
Read full rule →Johnston County
Few RestrictionsJohnston County's zoning chapter does not apply to bona fide farms. Section 14-7 exempts any farm operation covered by…
Read full rule →Nash County
Few RestrictionsNash County's noise ordinance exempts sound coming from property used for bona fide farm purposes, so a working farm…
Read full rule →Union County
Few RestrictionsUnion County posts a notice at the Register of Deeds under Sec. 4-33(b) warning buyers that spraying, manure spreading…
Read full rule →Agricultural Zoning Protection
State rules that limit how cities and counties may zone or restrict agricultural land uses, including livestock and crop operations.
North Carolina: statewide
StatewideSome RestrictionsNorth Carolina limits county zoning of bona fide farms under NCGS 160D-903, exempting most agricultural activities on…
Read full rule →Catawba County
Some RestrictionsCatawba County zones farmland and open land through the Rural Conservation (RCon) district, setting a five-acre minimum…
Read full rule →Charlotte
Some RestrictionsCharlotte's Unified Development Ordinance treats farming as a regulated principal use inside city limits, with…
Read full rule →Cleveland County
Some RestrictionsCleveland County protects farming through a voluntary agricultural district program under Article XVII of the Unified…
Read full rule →Durham
Some RestrictionsDurham's Unified Development Ordinance sets zoning standards for farming rather than a blanket right-to-farm exemption…
Read full rule →Fayetteville
Some RestrictionsFayetteville's Unified Development Ordinance carves out an Agricultural-Residential (AR) base zoning district to…
Read full rule →Forsyth County
Some RestrictionsForsyth County lets farmers enroll at least 5 acres in a Voluntary Agricultural District under a 10-year conservation…
Read full rule →Greensboro
Some RestrictionsGreensboro's Land Development Ordinance sets aside a dedicated AG, Agricultural District for farm residences, farm…
Read full rule →Johnston County
Some RestrictionsJohnston County's Voluntary Agricultural District ordinance (County Code §§ 3-25 through 3-174) lets farmers with at…
Read full rule →Lincoln County
Some RestrictionsUnincorporated Lincoln County lets qualifying farms of 50 or more acres join an Enhanced Agricultural District, giving…
Read full rule →Pitt County
Some RestrictionsPitt County protects working farms through its Voluntary Agricultural District Ordinance (Ordinance No. 15), letting…
Read full rule →Raleigh
Some RestrictionsRaleigh's Agriculture Productive (AP) zoning district, set out in UDO Sec. 4.1.1 and Sec. 4.3.1, exists to conserve…
Read full rule →Wayne County
Some RestrictionsWayne County protects working farmland through a Voluntary Agricultural District program administered by a seven-member…
Read full rule →Brunswick County
Light RestrictionsBrunswick County runs a Voluntary Agricultural District Program under UDO Section 4.9, adopted under G.S. 106-735…
Read full rule →Buncombe County
Light RestrictionsBuncombe County lets landowners enroll qualifying farmland in a Voluntary or Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District…
Read full rule →Cumberland County
Light RestrictionsCumberland County's Subdivision Ordinance requires every deed and final plat inside the designated Farmland Protection…
Read full rule →Guilford County
Light RestrictionsGuilford County protects working farmland through its Voluntary Agricultural District and Enhanced Voluntary…
Read full rule →Harnett County
Light RestrictionsHarnett County's Voluntary Agricultural District Ordinance, Chapter 152, lets qualifying farms enroll for protection…
Read full rule →High Point
Light RestrictionsHigh Point's Agricultural/Rural (AGR) zoning district sets aside large-lot land specifically to preserve farmland and…
Read full rule →Alamance County
Few RestrictionsAlamance County lets landowners enroll qualifying farmland in a Voluntary Agricultural District under a standalone…
Read full rule →Apex
Few RestrictionsApex's Unified Development Ordinance exempts bona fide farms, as defined by North Carolina law, from all UDO zoning…
Read full rule →Cabarrus County
Few RestrictionsCabarrus County's Development Ordinance exempts bona fide farms, owner-operated or leased, from its zoning provisions…
Read full rule →Craven County
Few RestrictionsProperty used for bona fide farm purposes is exempt from Craven County's zoning article entirely, covering crop…
Read full rule →Davidson County
Few RestrictionsUnincorporated Davidson County exempts bona fide farms from its Zoning Ordinance entirely, and the RA-1, RA-2 and RA-3…
Read full rule →Gaston County
Few RestrictionsGaston County's Unified Development Ordinance does not apply to bona fide farms or agricultural/farm buildings under…
Read full rule →Iredell County
Few RestrictionsIredell County's Land Development Code exempts bona fide farms, including start-up farms, from its zoning provisions…
Read full rule →Nash County
Few RestrictionsNash County's Unified Development Ordinance does not apply to bona fide farms. Section 1-4 exempts farm development…
Read full rule →Onslow County
Few RestrictionsOnslow County's zoning ordinance exempts bona fide farms from nearly all of its regulation. Section 1.5(C) says the…
Read full rule →Rose Hill
Few RestrictionsRose Hill's Zoning Code carves bona fide farms out of its own zoning rules entirely. Section 154.004 states the chapter…
Read full rule →Rowan County
Few RestrictionsRowan County's zoning ordinance does not apply to bona fide farms in the unincorporated county. Section 21-6 exempts…
Read full rule →Union County
Few RestrictionsUnion County's Voluntary Agricultural District program lets landowners in an enhanced district sell up to 25 percent of…
Read full rule →Wake County
Few RestrictionsWake County exempts bona fide farm properties in the unincorporated county from UDO zoning provisions, including…
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