Williams Dairy I & II ~ 263 acres, Randolph County
Rick and Barbara Williams and Jeanette and Charles
Williams.
Bargain Sale of Conservation Easements.
When Cora Williams died, she left her estate including the land used by the family dairy business to nine heirs. As is often the case when there are several heirs, the only viable solution regarding the land was to sell it and divide the proceeds accordingly. As a critical piece of the family’s dairy business, Rick and Barbara Williams began searching for ways to purchase the land from the other heirs so that it could be retained as part of the family dairy business. After talking with other farmers in the Liberty-Randleman Corridor, Rick Williams contacted PLC to request our assistance. Fortunately, PLC had funding available to purchase the development rights on the land which provided Rick and Barbara with the necessary capital to purchase the land from the other eight heirs.
Living the experience of being one of multiple heirs for family farmland, Jeanette Williams, Rick’s mother, decided to take a proactive step for the benefit of her heirs. Jeanette and her husband, Charles, decided to sell an easement on the land that contains the main portion of the family’s dairy business at a bargain sale rate. By selling the development rights, Jeanette is able to invest the funds received for the benefit of her heirs that aren’t interested in maintaining the land while ensuring that her heirs that wish to retain the land will not have to sell the land to pay the estate taxes. Her decision benefits the land, the family business, and her heirs.
PLC completed protection of Rick and Barbara’s 147-acre
easement in 2002 and Jeanette and Charles’ 116-acre easement in 2003. The
easements protect the prime agricultural soils by prohibiting non-agricultural
development and specifying where future construction can occur. Since these two
adjacent parcels border along approximately 1 ½ miles of Sandy Creek, the
drinking water supply for the Town of Ramseur, 75-foot riparian buffer zones
along the creek were also established for water quality protection.
Project funding provided by the landowners, the USDA Farmland Protection Program, the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Hillsdale Fund, and the Town of Ramseur.