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.
- “‘Love A Fair’ theme for 2011 state fair,” News & Observer: The theme of this year’s North Carolina State Fair was released today – “Love A Fair.” Although the theme is old – recycled from about 30 years ago – it was released with a modern twist, with the help of a YouTube video on the fair’s official blog site. …
- “EU offers farmers $300 million for E. coli crisis,” Charlotte Observer: Pressed hard by outraged farmers, the European Union farm chief on Wednesday increased his offer of compensation for the E. coli outbreak to euro210 million ($306 million). …
- “Henderson County fills agri-business development position,” Asheville Citizen-Times: Henderson County this week became the second county in the mountains to bring aboard an economic development employee devoted solely to agriculture. Mark Williams, a former county commissioner and seventh-generation Henderson County farmer, will start his job as the county’s agri-business development executive director on June 20. …
- “Liver mush – a North Carolina treat from way back when,” CNN: There was a time when every North Carolina family loved – or at least knew – liver mush. It’s the cuisine of grandma’s house, snow days and simpler times, a local delicacy some natives defend with the same loyalty they have to Carolina barbecue and Cheerwine. …
- “New food guide offers much clearer message,” News & Observer: If you needed a signal that there is some real change in Washington, it arrived last week, served up on a plate. It came in the form of MyPlate, the federal government’s new food guide graphic that replaces the MyPyramid unveiled in 2005. …
- “Alaska to lose ag research station to budget cuts,” Charlotte Observer: Some look at the bounty hauled in by Alaska’s commercial fishermen and envision salmon fillets on the grill. Peter Bechtel dreams up ways to use the leftovers. For more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Agriculture food researcher and his cohorts have been looking into better ways to use fish heads, skin, guts and bones. But their days in the state that catches more wild fish than any other may be numbered. …
- “House regains milk-chugging title,” State Government Radio: House lawmakers finally regained the highly-coveted “milk-chugging” title today. The House team of Reps. William Brisson, Jonathan Jordan and Efton Sager edged out the Senate team of Sens. Bob Atwater, Doug Berger and Don East. The annual contest is sponsored by the North Carolina Dairy Industry. …
- “New state law helps breweries,” Hendersonville Times-News: The North Carolina brewing industry raised a collective glass this weekend to toast a new law that allows breweries across the state to sell their beer to consumers on premises. …
- “A mean season for Carolinas shrimpers,” Charlotte Observer: An unusually cold winter that decimated native shrimp has robbed the Carolinas of a spring delicacy. Below-normal water temperatures killed virtually all the white shrimp that overwinter in South Carolina’s estuaries, and N.C. officials also report dead crustaceans. …
- “Pick your own fresh berries at Asheville area farms,” Asheville Citizen-Times: Visitors might be paying Dee Queen for the opportunity to pick berries at Queens Produce and Berry Farm, but the hundreds of visitors are actually doing something he would normally have to pay someone to do. …