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.
- “N.C. State researchers explore using herbal oils to kill pathogens on fruits, vegetables,” News & Observer: When Penelope Perkins-Veazie picks up a cantaloupe, she is probably thinking something a little different from other shoppers, most of whom probably give the fruit a sniff to check for ripeness, then plunk it in the grocery cart.Perkins-Veazie, on the other hand, peers down at the cantaloupe’s netted skin and mulls the perils of listeria, a bacteria that can cause sepsis, meningitis, or even death. …
- “Beehives decimated by mysterious malady,” Asheville Citizen Times: Like many beekeepers, Carl Chesick was perplexed this year when he discovered the state of his hives: Most were just empty. “Basically, the bees are gone,” said Chesick, who maintains about two dozen hives on his West Asheville farm. “The bees leave the colony and don’t come back. There are no dead bees. We don’t know where they went.” That’s a mystery scientists and regulators are struggling to unravel as the loss of honeybees soars in Western North Carolina and across the country. …
- “Blueberries’ growing popularity is good news for N.C. farmers,” Wilmington StarNews: Whether they are on your cereal, in your smoothie or topping a salad, blueberries have become a popular addition to our diets. Americans have more than doubled their blueberry intake in just 16 years, buying more than 853 million pounds of the superfood, according to a report from the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. That is good news for North Carolina farmers, where blueberry production has shown significant increases over the past five years. The Blueberry Council released 2012 numbers showing a 5 percent increase in year-over-year production and the Southern states make up for a quarter of the country’s blueberries, with North Carolina, Florida and Georgia leading the way. …
- “Troxler challenges restaurants to highlight local food this summer,” Bladen Journal: A new program from the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is encouraging chefs to dig into locally grown products this summer. The Dig into Local — 90 Day Challenge aims to promote the bounty of N.C. agricultural products available during the growing season by challenging chefs from across the state to create new menu options in their restaurants. …
- “Heavy rain causes flooding in Northwest North Carolina,” Winston-Salem Journal: Heavy rain rolled through Northwest North Carolina and the Triad on Monday, causing flooding, rock slides and slick roads and contributing to at least two deaths in the state, authorities said. …
- “How to make sure your pest control is doing the job right,” WNCT: As that warm weather crawls in so do the bugs. You might want to get your house sprayed but if it’s not done right it could cost you everything. The NC Department of Agriculture released a list naming a slew of pest control companies paying settlements for inadequate service or violations. …
- “Murdock donates $50 million to research in Kannapolis,” Charlotte Observer: Billionaire David Murdock, the Dole Foods chairman whose vision and money turned an abandoned Kannapolis textile mill into a multimillion-dollar nutrition research campus, announced a donation of another $50 million in operating support for the venture. The 90-year-old tycoon has already invested $600 million in the research campus and $131 million into an institute that bears his name. …
- “Cotton planting in North Carolina approaching insurance deadline,” Southern Farm Network: The weather has shuffled the cards again when it comes to allocation of acres, as well as futures prices for corn and cotton. David Parrish, CEO of the North Carolina Cotton Producers Association sees cotton acres staying about the same as predicted back in March: “At this point I think we will get planted what we were anticipating to get planted. Today is really the first good planting day for cotton this spring. The cool damp weather is not good cotton planting weather. The good thing is that we were anticipating pull back from last years acres, but time is running out and we need to be out in the fields.” …