BENSON, N.C. — John Langdon’s family has been on Johnston County land for generations.

What You Need To Know

  • Agriculture is the state's biggest industry, bringing in tens of billions of dollars

  • A recent report put N.C. as second in the nation for potential farmland loss in coming decades

  • John Langdon says he and other farmers are already seeing how development is impacting farmland

He, and now his sons, have watched as development has changed the landscape of Johnston County.

“We actually sold eight acres for I-40 to be put in, and then a little later we bought 64 acres and added to it,” Langdon said.

It’s not an issue that is unique to him and his family.

The American Farmland Trust recently released a report that puts North Carolina second in the nation for potential farmland lost over the next 20 years.

Langdon says it’s not just the issue of available farmland, it’s about where it is.

Development is happening all around the county, including right beside farms like his.

“Is it in your radius of your farming operation or are you going to have to stretch out and go further miles?” Langdon said. “All that brings costs and inefficiencies, and more traffic on the roads and things of that nature.”

Langdon’s farm is in Johnston County. In the 2020 census, the county’s population boomed.

That growth is also reflected in the report, which lists Johnston County as 19th in the nation for projected covered acres by 2040.

Langdon says it’s an eroding, constant situation that he and other farmers are keeping an eye on.

“In my opinion, the urban sector should be developed just outside city limits and going out in the country, instead of leaving the city limits and going in the center of the county and exploiting it back into the town, but I’m not the manager of all that,” Langdon said.

Langdon says that he doesn’t know what the future holds but that he feels he was called to farm. So, with the advice of his friends, he’ll keep going, even if that leads to a different piece of land in the future.

“John, you can’t live your life in limbo. You should run your farm just like it’s going to the next generation until the good Lord shows you something different,” Langdon said. “And at that point in time, be prepared to make a change.”