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Primary Sponsor

Last Action

Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House2025-06-18

Vote Breakdown

Plain Language Summary

This bill makes multiple changes to North Carolina agricultural laws, including updating water protection plans, creating a feral swine control working group, allowing denial of special use permits that harm agricultural production, repealing a violation points system for swine farms, modifying composting rules, allowing school absences for agricultural events, increasing penalties for crop theft and aquaculture violations, and making various technical updates to pesticide registration, public weighmaster licensing, and propane assessments.

Arguments in Favor

• •Supporters argue this bill helps farmers by providing water infrastructure support and conservation incentives during droughts, establishes coordinated feral swine management to reduce agricultural damage, allows communities to protect farmland from incompatible development, reduces regulatory burdens on composting and aquaculture operations, and increases penalties to deter crop and aquaculture theft.
• •They also note it supports agricultural youth by allowing school absences for livestock shows and equestrian events.

Arguments Against

• •Opponents may contend that allowing denial of special use permits based on agricultural impact could restrict legitimate business development and property rights, that repealing the swine farm violation points system reduces oversight of environmental compliance, that modernizing composting rules could affect environmental protections, and that some increased penalties for aquaculture violations represent stricter enforcement.
• •Some may also question whether the feral swine working group has adequate funding and enforcement authority.