After months of negotiation, North Carolina’s General Assembly passed a major piece of agricultural legislation with support from nearly everyone in the building — an increasingly rare outcome in Raleigh. On June 22, 2026, Governor Josh Stein signed Senate Bill 401, the NC Farm Act of 2025-2026, into law as Session Law 2026-11. The bill passed the House 110 to 2 and the Senate 48 to 0 on the conference report, a level of agreement that reflects real, substantive work by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. For a state where agriculture remains one of the largest drivers of the economy, that kind of consensus is worth understanding.
The version of the Farm Act that became law looks different from the bill first introduced. Two provisions that drew significant public opposition — a proposed ban on raw milk herd-share arrangements and a liability shield for pesticide manufacturers — were removed before final passage. The raw milk provision would have eliminated the existing practice, legal since 2018, of dispensing raw milk to independent or partial owners of a dairy animal. That practice remains legal under current law. The pesticide provision would have created a presumption that manufacturers satisfied their duty to warn consumers as long as their product carried an EPA-approved label under federal law. That provision is gone as well, meaning product liability litigation against pesticide manufacturers in North Carolina proceeds under existing legal standards, unchanged by this Act.
Related: Conducting Global Internal Investigations: Best Practices (2026 Guide)
Lawmakers also removed a proposal that would have expanded local governments’ authority to block construction near agricultural operations. What remains is a bill focused on water resources, land protections, regulatory cleanup, and a handful of practical fixes that had been a long time coming.
Protecting Agricultural Water for the Long Haul
The centerpiece of the Act directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to update North Carolina’s Strategic Plan for Protecting Agricultural Water Resources, last revised in 2010. The updated plan must address water infrastructure needs, conservation practices, long-term storage capacity, and flood mitigation, along with incentive programs to compensate landowners who participate in flood mitigation efforts. DACS must report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources by January 1, 2027.
Related: Summer Break is a Good Time to Review Contracts
This matters more than it might first appear. As North Carolina’s urban areas continue to grow and periods of drought become more frequent, water availability for irrigation and livestock has become a genuine point of competition. A modernized water plan, done well, could shape everything from permitting to future incentive programs for farmers who invest in storage and conservation infrastructure.
Several provisions in the Act are aimed squarely at the pressure that development places on farmland. It extends the state’s land conservation tax credits through 2031, giving farm families and land trusts continued financial certainty as they plan conservation easements and long-term land preservation strategies.
Related: Court Upholds SEC Disgorgement Power
The Act also adds a new disclosure requirement to residential real estate transactions. Under the NC Real Estate Commission’s standard disclosure statement, sellers of residential property must now disclose the existence of any voluntary agricultural district within one half mile of the property’s boundary. For farm families selling adjacent parcels, and for buyers moving into farm country, this is a meaningful change that adds transparency to transactions on both sides.
