Each week we round up the latest N.C. agricultural headlines from newspapers across the state and country, as well as excerpts from the stories. Click on the links to go straight to each paper’s full story.
- “Carolina corn grower nears 400 bushels per acre,” Southeast Farm Press: Several years back the North Carolina Corn Growers Association started a 200 Bushel Per Acre Club. More recently the club changed to 250 Bushel Per Acre and now claims several members in the 300 Bushel Per Acre Club, including this year’s yield winner Jimmy Harrell and H&H Farms in Snow Hill, NC. Harrell claimed both the dryland and irrigated championships, coming real close to a new, elite corn growers club — the 400 Bushel Per Acre Club. …
- “Study: Food-borne illnesses cost US $152 billion,” The Charlotte Observer: Food-borne illnesses, such as E. coli and salmonella, cost the United States $152 billion annually in health care and other losses, according to a report released Wednesday by a food safety group. The report comes as the U.S. Senate considers legislation that would require more government inspections of food manufacturers and give the Food and Drug Administration new authority to order recalls, among other things. The House passed a similar bill last year. The government estimates 76 million people each year are sickened by food-borne illness, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized and about 5,000 die. …
- “Board looks to support agriculture,” Durham Herald-Sun: Protecting farmland from encroaching development while expanding agricultural business opportunities are the goals of a new Farmland Preservation Plan that the Chatham County Board of Commissioners adopted recently. The plan includes several components, is voluntary and does not require farmers or other residents to participate. “Agriculture, horticulture and forestry are not only historically important to Chatham County, these industries remain vital to our economy today and we want them to remain strong,” said Sally Kost, chairwoman of the Board of Commissioners. …
- “Farmers can apply for grants,” Salisbury Post: Farmers who grow value-added crops have several opportunities for financial help. A new program based at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis is accepting applications for grants that will help value-added growers pay for equipment. Dubbed “N.C. Value-Added Cost Share,” the program is administered by N.C. MarketReady at the Research Campus in Kannapolis. N.C. MarketReady is an agricultural outreach effort by N.C. State University, one of eight universities with a presence at the biotech campus. The cost share program, a $1.2 million project funded by the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, is designed to boost rural economic development and strengthen farm families. …
- “Yogurt plant coming to Statesville,” The Charlotte Observer: Stamey Farms is partnering with Ecuador’s leading yogurt producer to build a $7.5 million yogurt plant and develop a line of yogurts for distribution throughout the Southeast. The plant could open by year’s end near Stamey Farms off Interstate 40 in western Iredell County. It will employ at least 32 people, Stamey Farms owner Bob Stamey said. Stamey Farms has been one of America’s leading exporters of live dairy cattle. Iredell County has the highest number of dairy cows in the state, so the county is a good fit for a plant producing a product that relies on milk, Stamey said. Bob Stamey and his son, David, said they have known the family who owns the Ecuadoran company, Toni Dairy Industry SA, for years. That family approached the Stameys a little more than a year ago about opening a plant in Iredell County, Bob Stamey said. The families formed a separate company called Longitude 80 Dairies LLP for their yogurt venture. …
- “Fire ant threat continues to rise in county,” Forest City Daily Courier: A fire ant quarantine has been expanded to include more of Rutherford County. In the county, the quarantine line has been moved to include the area south and east of N.C. 108 from the Polk County line to the junction of U.S. 64 East to the McDowell County line. In essence, the line has moved northward in most areas of the county. Only the northwestern corner of the county remains outside of the quarantine area. All of Polk and Cleveland counties are inside the quarantine lines. The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is expanding the state quarantine for the imported fire ant in a continuing effort to monitor and address this pest. With the expansion, the quarantine now includes portions or entire areas of 70 counties. Lane Kreitlow, entomology program specialist with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Raleigh, said on Thursday, “Every year, the NCDA&CS conducts statewide surveys along the existing quarantine boundaries to determine whether movement of the quarantine line is warranted. Several factors come into play, including, of course, population density of the fire ant in addition to the number of nurseries and other business in the area that may transport regulated articles.” …