Farmland Preservation Program

The Cleveland County Farmland Preservation Program is a voluntary program that recognizes landowners’ commitment to keeping land for farming or forestry use. Cleveland County has 200 farms, totaling over 18,800 acres, enrolled in the program. Farms in the program are allowed to display a “Farmland Preservation Member” sign on their property. Each farm is placed within an Ag District. These farms and Ag Districts are also recognized on Farmland Preservation maps at the Conservation Office, Cooperative Extension, Register of Deeds, Planning & Zoning, and the GIS layer for the county website. The program is designed to foster pride and awareness of farms in the county.
To qualify for the program, farms must be at least 50 acres in size or within one mile of an already established Ag District. It must be a bona fide farm. Applications are approved by the Cleveland County Voluntary Agricultural Advisory Board. Applications can be picked up at the Soil and Water Conservation office located in the USDA Building at 844 Wallace Grove Dr. in Shelby. The office phone number is 704-471-0235 ext.3. 

Agricultural Advisory Board will meet at 8:30 am, at the Shelby USDA Service Center, 844 Wallace Grove Dr., Shelby.
 
Meetings for 2026 are as follows:
January 22nd
March 19th 
August 20th
September 17th 
November 19th  

Members of the Board are:
Wayne Yarboro - Chair
Daniel Shires - Vice-Chair
Joseph Lail - Member
Randall Greene- Member
Matt Bell - Member
Russell Corey - Member
Scott Turner- Member