IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. (WHKY) — More than 1,500 acres of agricultural land, including property in Iredell County, are slated for permanent protection through $11 million in state and federal funding.

Three Rivers Land Trust Executive Director Travis Morehead said the funding will support conservation easements on eight farms across Iredell, Cabarrus, Davidson, Rowan and Stanly counties.

The nonprofit received $3 million from the North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and more than $8 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Lands Easement Program.

The money will be used to purchase conservation easements directly from landowners. The agreements allow property owners to continue farming while permanently preventing the land from being converted to non-agricultural development.

Three Rivers Land Trust says it has conserved more than 22,000 acres of farmland in the region since 1995.

The organization cited estimates from North Carolina Cooperative Extension indicating that the state loses approximately 55 acres of farmland each day, much of it to low-density residential development.