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.
- “Michelle Obama receives White House Christmas tree,” Los Angeles Times: The official White House Christmas tree arrived Friday morning from a prize-winning farm in the North Carolina mountains. The tree — a 19-foot tall Fraser fir from Peak Farms in Ashe County — arrived at the North Portico of the White House by horse-drawn carriage. …
- “Restoration of Orton Plantation on display,” Wilmington Star-News: Orton Plantation is on its way to becoming the preserve billionaire Louis Moore Bacon envisioned when he purchased the historic property in 2010. …
- “Drought threatens to close Mississippi to barges,” Charlotte Observer: After months of drought, companies that ship grain and other goods down the Mississippi River are being haunted by a potential nightmare: If water levels fall too low, the nation’s main inland waterway could become impassable to barges just as the harvest heads to market. …
- “Grant will aid search for fixed location for Fayetteville Farmers Market,” Fayetteville Observer: A permanent home for the Fayetteville Farmers Market has edged a little closer to fruition. Cumberland County Cooperative Extension will use a $25,000 grant from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to find and study potential sites. …
- “NC sees bumper crop of Christmas trees this year,” News & Observer: Triangle parking lots sit packed with Fraser firs, fat green beauties shipped from the North Carolina mountains – guaranteed to hold the heaviest ornament without bending a limb or shedding a needle. …
- “GAP Certification For Carolina Tobacco Growers,” Southern Farm Network: When you hear the acronym GAP, or Good Agricultural Practices, the first thing that comes to mind is fruits and vegetables. But, GAP is becoming more and more prevalent in tobacco production. …
- “State agriculture official speaks at Farm-City Night,” Randolph Guide: If you like to eat, you have a stake in agriculture. That was the message brought by N.C.Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Richard Reich last week as guest speaker at Farm-City Night. …
- “After 12 years of research, hog-waste disposal still reeks,” Charlotte Observer: Google, of all companies, last year got into the business of hog poop. It joined a project started by Duke University, Duke Energy and a Yadkin County farmer to pull the potent greenhouse gas methane from swine waste and use it to generate electricity or simply burn it off. …
- “NC Grower Sees Biggest Soybean Yields Ever,” Southern Farm Network: Kenneth Bartlett farms wheat, soybeans, and corn in Wayne, Duplin, & Lenoir Counties, in North Carolina. Bartlett says he’s just completed harvesting some of the best soybeans he’s ever grown. …