Below is a summary of local interest stories that have recently been highlighted on the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ In the Field Blog. Please feel free to use any of this content in your publications or contact us if you have any additional questions.
Eastern:
(Cumberland) NCDA&CS hopes to reduce flooding with $38 million allocated for new program
It may be an exaggeration to say Mitch Miller is dreaming of how to spend some of the $38 million appropriated in the latest state budget to help reduce flooding in North Carolina. The exaggeration would only be slight though. As a soil and water conservationist in Cumberland County, he has plenty of ideas about how he could put that money to work to help protect people and property from flooding. “I’ve got several sites right now that I know we need to spend that money on,” Miller said. Miller was one of the 250 people involved in soil and water conservation who recently attended the annual meeting of the North Carolina Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. That’s when he and others got a full presentation about the funding. …
(Harnett) Playing in the dirt: A career well-spent
Don Nicholson is a Regional Agronomist for Region 7, which includes Harnett, Johnston, Wayne and Wake Counties. An agronomist examines and manages the science of soil and crop production. Although he never imagined that his professional career would involve playing in the dirt, he would have it no other way. “I grew up on a traditional tobacco farm in Lee County,” he said, “and throughout my life I kept being drawn back to the agriculture industry. Today, there is nothing I would rather be associated with.” For over 16 years, Don has been working as a regional agronomist at the NCDA&CS, interacting with and aiding farmers across the state. He not only helps farmers, but also other agriculture industry producers to make decisions based on plant nutrition in crops and other plants. “Livestock is a big portion of N.C. agriculture, so we aid growers in utilizing the wastes generated by livestock operations in ways that are beneficial to crop growth and environmentally responsible,” he said. “Additionally, since plant parasitic nematodes can hinder the uptake of water and nutrients, we aid growers in identifying problem areas and help them come up with strategies to make as profitable of a crop as possible.” ...
(Wayne) Inspecting Meat Across the Industry
Tammy Thornton, Consumer Safety Inspector with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Meat and Poultry Inspection Division, is on the front lines of food safety in her position. Stationed at the Nahunta slaughter house in Wayne County, Tammy works hard each day to ensure consumers have quality and safe meat products available in local stores. Tammy grew up in an agricultural family with her father working at a produce company. She has loved the agriculture industry from a young age and never veered from the path it started for her. “When I was younger and in school, I would spend my summers working the green season at Mount Olive pickle company,” Tammy said, “and I always enjoyed working in that position, learning more about the industry and growing my experience.” She also worked with turkeys and chickens for a while at various plants before starting her role at the department of agriculture. …
Piedmont:
(Granville) Helping to build our future farmers
Justin Preddy grew up around agriculture but never fully developed a passion for it until high school. “I had a homeroom teacher who taught agriculture and sparked my excitement for the industry,” he said. “I joined FFA as a freshman and changed all my classes to agriculture classes. It was an immediate love for the industry, the work and the people.” In 2017, Justin had the amazing opportunity to help start a local FFA chapter in Stem and it was during this experience that he met the previous President of the Alumni Association, Kerri Stainback. “He came to me and asked if I wanted to fill in as an interim central region representative and then run once the term was over,” Justin said, “and after filling in as interim for those six months I knew that this was a position that I wanted.” Justin was elected President of the organization in 2021 after serving two years as central region representative, a position he continues to serve to this day. ...
(Randolph) Changing the narrative one tea at a time
Growing up in the Black Belt region of Alabama on her maternal grandparents’ farm, Clarenda “Farmer Cee” Stanley was exposed to agriculture but never saw it as a viable career path until later in life. “Part of my childhood was spent on a farm where my family raised cattle and grew a variety of food crops,” she said, “but I was never really encouraged to pursue farming or a lifestyle in agriculture. It was all about obtaining a degree.” Upon graduating college with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and later, a master’s degree in education, she eventually became an awarded marketing and fundraising professional. Currently, she is a senior global fundraiser at The Nature Conservancy’s World Office, the first Black person to serve in this capacity. She maintains this position even as she builds her farm and its emerging brand, Green Heffa Farms. ...
(Rowan) Research looks at whether surrogacy could lead to dairy cows producing beef offspring
Whether you’re familiar with modern day cow breeding practices or not, you’d be tempted to call a new effort at some of the state’s research stations “next level.” The idea isn’t exactly brand new, but it certainly hasn’t been around long enough to be called “old” yet either. In fact, this new experiment at the research stations uses the same techniques that are common in human fertility procedures. By now, most people are familiar with the idea of a human surrogate mother. Well, in this new effort, the surrogate is a dairy cow. The basic idea is to breed some of the dairy cows so that they produce beef offspring. There’s a lot more to it, but yes, you read that correctly. Next level, right? Again, the process to create human surrogates is well established, and it has been a growing practice for some dairy operations in recent years. Implementing it at the research stations is definitely experimental and ambitious. …
(Wake) A Solid Foundation: The Life of a Farrier
Shoes are an important part of our everyday life. In much the same way that a runner needs special shoes to complete a marathon, horses also need specific shoes to perform the tasks desired of them. For example, a horse gliding through a Hunter Jumper course in barrel racing shoes is about the same as a runner sprinting a marathon in Crocs. “There is a different type of shoe for each horse and the task they are required to perform,” said N.C. farrier, Matt Hess. “It all depends on what they need to reach their highest potential both safely and comfortably.” …
(Wake and Warren) A legacy and a mission to provide healthy food
When Demetrius Hunter looks around his community, he sees a lot of fast food and convenience stores. He is on a mission to change that. Hunter is program director for Grocers on Wheels, a non-profit initiative that works to decrease rural and urban community’s food insecurity. The initiative provides a mobile market to areas in Southeast Raleigh, Wake and Durham counties in areas that are considered food deserts. The initiative visits properties, businesses, organizations and senior communities by invitation and set appointments by property managers or homeowners. “Our mission is to provide affordable, accessible, fresh foods and healthy baked goods to low-income areas and we are doing this every week with delivery of fresh local foods, obtained directly from North Carolina farmers and others, to low-income communities experiencing food insecurities,” Hunter said. …
Western:
(Catawba) Nationally recognized Bandys High School ag teacher found her tribe, now inspires the next generation
Laura Pugh Parker’s path could have taken many different directions, but the Bandys High School ag teacher knows she is where she was meant to be, doing what she meant to do. And, she knows one teacher can make a big difference. The wife and mother of two, who counts hundreds of current and past ag students as her own, too, was recently recognized as the National Association of Agricultural Educators’ Region V Outstanding Agricultural Education Teacher Award recipient. It was the honor of a lifetime. “I’m still in disbelief,” Parker said. “I look at so many ag teachers in the state and see so many doing great things, and you think ‘I’m not there with them.’ “There are around 550 ag teachers in the state so I was shocked that I was selected as the N.C. Outstanding Agriculture Teacher last year,” she added. “That application was then sent on to the national level in which one agriculture teacher from each of the six regions is recognized, and I was so surprised to be recognized on that level!” ...
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