Press Releases
RALEIGH – Thirteen budding artists were recently chosen as winners in the annual Farm to School Calendar Contest, sponsored by the North Carolina Grange. Each month depicts the art of a student and represents a different commodity. The calendar also includes daily facts about agriculture, giving students an understanding of agriculture's role in food production.
RALEIGH -- Treatments for spongy moth (formerly known as the gypsy moth) infestations in several areas across North Carolina will start as early as June 7 and could continue through June 20, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The areas to be treated include:
RALEIGH – The N.C. Forest Service has deemed five new counties positive for the emerald ash borer (EAB). Newly impacted counties are Anson, Bertie, Duplin, Martin and Sampson, bringing the number of counties in the state where the tree-killing insect has been detected to 76.
RALEIGH – Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler today presented the North Carolina Friends of Farmland Award to Wake County for its innovative farmland preservation initiatives that have already preserved 238 acres of farmland.
RALEIGH – The economic impact of North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness industry jumped to $111.1 billion, posting a second straight year of strong growth at nearly $8 billion Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced today.
WHO/WHAT: Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler will make a brief ag economic impact announcement and comments and have media availability prior to the 1 p.m. Tractor Parade that officially opens the Got to Be NC Festival. Media will have an opportunity to capture two news stories at one event. WHEN/WHERE: Friday, May 17, 12:30 p.m.
RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division is asking North Carolina residents to be on the lookout for the early-stage nests of the Yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina). While this invasive hornet species has not been found in North Carolina, it has been collected in Georgia and the southernmost point of South Carolina in 2023 and 2024.
RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has lifted the quarantine of a HPAI-positive dairy herd after serial testing was negative for the virus. This herd was the only HPAI-positive herd within the state and was directly linked to a dairy herd in Texas that was clinically affected and epidemiologically linked to the virus.
RALEIGH -- The Got to Be NC Festival takes over the N.C. State Fairgrounds May 17-19 in Raleigh with plenty of food, fun, tractors, music, agricultural exhibits and activities for the whole family. Festivalgoers will find North Carolina food products and N.C. agriculture on full display throughout the grounds.