Senate Bill 582 Summary

• Includes honey sales income in gross income calculations for present use value taxation of agricultural land, effective for tax years beginning July 1, 2023.

• Establishes a voluntary Grade "A" dairy assessment program allowing North Carolina dairy producers to self-assess up to 5 cents per hundredweight of milk produced for industry promotion and research.

• Adds an equine industry representative to the Board of Agriculture and exempts compost from sales tax for qualifying farmers, effective October 1, 2023.

• Renames the official state fruit to the muscadine grape, designates the longleaf pine as the emblem representing North Carolina trees, and establishes the second Wednesday in November as North Carolina Farmers Appreciation Day.

• Includes extensive forestry, environmental, and wastewater provisions including prescribed burning amendments, timber larceny penalties, unmanned aircraft restrictions near forest fires, and wetlands definition clarifications.