Dorsett touched on how important the public&squo;s perception of farming is and said an important question for farmers is how current farmers will&bsp; keep the next generation working on the land.

The &dquo;Keep The Farm Workshop&dquo; starts a series of in-depth workshops on what to do with your farm in Polk County. This first workshop involves the mechanics of just owning a farm, from inheritance, taxes and insurance liabilities to conservation easements and land use. Speakers included: Andrew Branan, executive director of the N.C. Farm Transition Network, Ted Feitshans from N.C. State University and Dorsett from the DENR Office of Conservation and Community Affairs. The speakers talked about the need to take actions with your land, business and family to keep the farm farming.

Local speakers included Sally Walker of PAC on conservation easements, Cathy Ruth of Polk County Planning on land uses of farmland, John Bridgers, Polk tax assessor, on farm taxes and Shirley Odell of the N.C. Farm Bureau on farm risk protection. Bill Yarborough, N.C. agriculture commission&squo;s western representative, will discuss agricultural trends in the state.

Organizers say the workshop was valuable for both active farmers and owners of farm and forest lands. This workshop was sponsored by the Polk County Community Foundation and the Polk County Farmland Preservation and Agricultural Economic Development Board.