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.
- “State agriculture officials offer cantaloupe pilot program,” News 14 Carolina: Incidents of contamination in U.S. cantaloupe production in recent years prompted state agencies to hold a safety workshop to educate growers, packers and others. Cantaloupes represent a small slice of North Carolina’s agricultural output, but officials wanted to make sure that melons were contaminate-free when they arrived in stores. …
- “Community-supported agriculture season begins,” Wilmington Star News: Just this once, let’s try thinking inside the box. This week marks the unofficial start of community-supported agriculture (CSA) season here in the Southeast, which means many in our area will be receiving their first boxes of produce. …
- “Local farmers celebrated at 15th annual event,” Stokes News: Families gather in the South Stokes High School cafeteria to share a free meal at the Farmer Appreciation Day event. For 15 years now local agencies have demonstrated their appreciation for Stokes County farmers with an event featuring food, live music, vendors and door prizes. …
- “New community grocery in Concord sells local, regional food,” Charlotte Observer: The local food movement last week made some ground-breaking progress, as three Cabarrus farming families announced the opening of Peachtree Market, a small grocery store that will sell local and regional products. The partnership between Creekside Farms, Rowland Family Farms LLC and the Newton family has been in the works for more than two years. …
- “Forsyth County farm making soft goat cheese,” Winston-Salem Journal: Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery, the only farmstead goat cheese producer in Forsyth County, has started selling soft goat cheese, fulfilling a plan that has been 20 years in the making for Johnny and Robin Blakley. Robin Blakley milks their goats, and Johnny Blakley makes the cheese on their 34-acre farm. …
- “North Carolina looks to be heading for another bumper strawberry crop,” Southeast Farm Press: North Carolina is the nation’s third largest strawberry producing state, and despite some unexpected cool weather this spring, the state appears to be headed for another bumper crop. …
- “Hagan co-sponsors bill to reduce regulations on pesticides,” New Bern Sun Journal: A new bill is on Capitol Hill that aims to lessen regulations on pesticides and the burden they place on farmers and municipalities. U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-NC, and Larry Wooten, president of the N.C. Farm Bureau, held a teleconference Tuesday morning to highlight the new legislation introduced Monday that would eliminate Clean Water Act permits required for certain applications of pesticides on or near waterways. …
- “Fire season in the Cape Fear region is starting off slowly,” Fayetteville Observer: Near-weekly rains have helped keep the wildfire season in check this year, state and local fire authorities said. “Typically speaking, March, April and May are the busiest times for our fire season,” said Michael Good, the state Forest Service’s district forester for Cumberland and surrounding counties. …