Each week we round up the latest N.C. agricultural headlines from news outlets across the state and country, as well as excerpts from the stories. Click on the links to go straight to the full story.
- “Buncombe joins other Western North Carolina counties on drought list; dry weather a ‘disaster’ for Mitchell County farmer,” Asheville Citizen-Times: Recent rains amounted to little more than a teacup of relief for WNC’s drought conditions. Now Buncombe has joined a growing number of Western North Carolina counties listed as being in moderate drought. …
- “Rowland farmer learns to adapt,” Fayetteville Observer: This isn’t his daddy’s farm anymore. In the five years since Bo Stone took over day-to-day operations at P&S Farms, the 39-year-old has moved his family farming operation into a new era of agriculture. …
- “Statewide campaign launched to help N.C.’s food production,” Charlotte Observer: The Center for Environmental Farming Systems, based at N.C. State University, has launched a statewide campaign to get you to spend 10 percent of your existing food dollars on food produced in North Carolina. …
- “Heat even too much for crops, cattle,” WCNC-TV: Heat and sporadic rainfall in the land of the family farm are making this growing season challenging. “Corn can take the dry weather but it cannot stand this heat. This heat, it kills it,” John Blanton said, as he took a NewsChannel 36 camera through his brown corn field. …
- “Mobile slaughterhouse will help small farmers,” News & Observer: For Lee Menius to sell pasture-raised chicken at local farmers markets, he used to drive 150 miles round trip from his farm near Salisbury to Siler City, home of the state’s only poultry slaughterhouse. To pick up the packaged meat, he had to repeat the trip. Now Menius just parks a mobile slaughterhouse in his driveway. …