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.
- “Sierra Nevada brewery will bring tourism, big economic bump to Western North Carolina,” Asheville Citizen-Times: Look for an economic boost and increase in tourism in Western North Carolina from Sierra Nevada’s new East Coast expansion brewery in Henderson County, local officials and economic developers said Wednesday. …
- “Dispute over drug in feed limiting US meat exports,” MSNBC: A drug used to keep pigs lean and boost their growth is jeopardizing the nation’s exports of what once was known as “the other white meat.” The drug, ractopamine hydrochloride, is fed to pigs and other animals right up until slaughter and minute traces have been found in meat. …
- “Community lobbies to save FSA office,” Warren Record: A proposal to consider closing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency office here drew an overflow crowd to a meeting at the Armory Civic Center on Tuesday afternoon. It was hosted by the North Carolina Farm Service Agency (FSA) in order to receive public comments on a merger with the FSA office in neighboring Vance County. …
- “Three charged in poaching of rare Venus Flytrap plants,” WRAL: The Venus Flytrap, a rare carnivorous plant that only grows in southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, had three Brunswick County people facing charges Tuesday. …
- “Forest Service to conduct prescribed burn on Bearpen Mountain,” Hendersonville Times-News: The USDA Forest Service will conduct a 1,200-acre prescribed burn in the Bearpen Mountain area of the Pisgah Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest, in February or March 2012. The Forest Service will implement the burn to reduce woody debris in the forest, which will help prevent catastrophic wildfires. …
- “Durham scientists study plants for biofuel production,” News & Observer: These days, downtown Durham is better known for its burgeoning cuisine scene and modernized, reclaimed spaces than its long history with cash crops. The storied days of tobacco curing in the city’s brick factories have been replaced with technology research that could, scientists say, bolster the biofuel industry while creating stronger crops. …
- “Local agriculture in the balance: A tale of two counties,” Charlotte Observer: Working on a study of local food for UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute, journalist and graduate researcher Josh McCann has plowed up some troubling facts about our region’s ability to feed itself. …