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.
- “Apples fueled Edneyville’s prosperity in 2013,” Hendersonville Times-News: Deep in the heart of apple country, descendants of some of the first settlers of Henderson County prepared to welcome the New Year Tuesday with plans for a bright future — but the highlights of 2013 were nothing to scoff at. Despite a year of record rainfall that decimated other crops, Edneyville residents marked a great year for apple production. The banner harvest was especially welcome after 2012’s dismal production due to a hard spring freeze. Growers who diversified their offerings also gained some new markets this year, said apple farmer Kenny Barnwell. Peterson Farms, a Michigan fruit processor that makes apple slices for McDonalds, bought “a few” apples locally last year but returned for much bigger buys this August, he said. …
- “Neurological form of EHV-1 proves deadly for 4 Raleigh horses,” The News & Observer: Four horses euthanized last month had contracted the rare neurological form of EHV-1, the equine herpes virus, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services confirmed. After receiving reports of the deaths, state officials began investigating the virus that made the horses so ill. The affected horses showed symptoms of fever and were extremely uncoordinated, but it was not immediately apparent that the horses had neurological EHV-1. “You can’t distinguish it from rabies or triple E (eastern equine encephalitis virus that affects a horse’s brain), or West Nile virus,” said Dr. Tom Ray, director of animal health programs for the state’s agriculture department. Officials sent samples to a testing lab in Ames, Iowa, for a verification of the virus. The results returned on Dec. 23, and the agriculture department immediately quarantined J&H Stables, where the cases allegedly appeared. All 29 horses at the stables were exposed to neurological EHV-1 and are being monitored. The boarding facility will remain under quarantine for 28 days after the last signs of fever disappear from any of the horses. …
- “WNC sloshes to record year in rainfall, 75 inches,” Hendersonville Times-News: Last weekend’s rainfall helped push 2013 over the top as the wettest year on record, according to the National Weather Service. About an inch of rain was recorded at the Asheville Regional Airport on Saturday and Sunday, bringing the yearly precipitation total to 75.22 inches. That eclipses the previous rainfall record of 64.91 inches set in 1973, according to Meteorologist Scott Krentz of the NWS’s Greer office. The year’s precipitation record is unlikely to increase substantially before the end of 2013, Krentz said. He expects some areas might get a “couple tenths of an inch” before New Year’s Day, but most of the moisture should be confined to the northwestern mountain counties bordering Tennessee. …
- “Base shoppers choosing produce from N.C.,” Jacksonville Daily News: The customers may be from around the world, but the produce is home-grown. Items, such as produce, milk, bread and canned goods — all of which are sold at local commissaries —often are grown or produced in North Carolina. While the goods are shipped to a distribution hub in Virginia and return to North Carolina for sale, many local customers prefer the locally grown products because of freshness and because it supports the local economy. During winter, the locally grown fruit and vegetable selection is slim at the commissary, but as the spring and summer approach, shelves will be packed with North Carolina fare. “It’s fresher and that’s what I like,” said Brenda Aird of Emerald Isle while shopping at the Camp Lejeune commissary. “I don’t like produce shipped across the country. Also, knowing that the local farmer is staying in business means a lot to me. Ultimately, I hope it means better and cheaper produce for the consumer.” …
- “Charting a course for the sweet potato’s success in the South,” Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier: Almost alone among researchers at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory on Savannah Highway, entomologist Mike Jackson can’t track his various produce experiments in progress. While his fellow U.S. Department of Agriculture breeders spend the last months of summer watching supposedly hardy broccoli strains wither in the sun and marveling at how well an oddly shaped watermelon withstands insect attacks, Jackson is stuck with a subterranean mystery. As the researcher in charge of sweet potatoes, he doesn’t have a clue how his root-tubers are faring until a tractor plow unearths them in October. “It’s like Christmas,” Jackson said on this year’s harvest day, eagerly examining a few of the more than 400 turned-up specimens for size, color, pest scars and disease. …
- “Project to make vegetable markets mobile” Asheville Citizen-Times: For Calvin Allen, the value of fresh, healthy food isn’t some vague philosophy. The proof, this 40-year-old Asheville native notes, is so real he can taste it. “When I got into organic foods, I could taste the difference,” Allen said. “An orange didn’t taste like the orange (I was used to).” Allen isn’t just recognizing this difference. He’s trying to make a difference in his community. Allen, along with his business partner, Olufemi Lewis, plans to launch an innovative mobile market — Ujamaa Freedom Market — to help feed the whole community through access to healthy, fresh food. Officially founded at the beginning of 2013, the business is a worker-owned cooperative mobile market designed to provide fresh local produce, healthy prepared foods and other household necessities in communities throughout Asheville on a weekly basis, focusing particularly on communities experiencing poverty and so-called “food deserts.” …
- “Wake roadside collard patch gets busy for the holidays,” The News & Observer: Hal Gurley was trying to figure out a way to pay taxes on his family’s northern Wake County land nearly three decades ago when he and his grandfather planted two rows of collards. From those 100 seedlings, a business plan grew and grew. Gurley, owner of the The Collard Patch, a pick-your-own roadside market about 20 miles northeast of downtown Raleigh, unwittingly became a frontrunner in the farm-to-fork movement so trendy in today’s culinary world. His U-pick patch is now one of about a dozen such places in the Triangle that offer collards. Over the past three decades, Gurley has added rows and rows of the leafy-green plant that has become a must-have at Southern New Year celebrations. He offers two varieties to his U-pick customers – the Morris Heading collards that produce broad, waxy leaves that vary from green to blue-green and the cabbage collard with a lighter green leaf that is popular Down East. On a recent afternoon, Gurley got out one of the golf carts he uses to transport city dwellers and suburbanites through his earthy enterprise, which now pays the taxes on the family land and more. …
- “Asheville biochemist turns brewery waste into brownies,” Asheville Citizen-Times: Asheville is increasingly known for its brewery scene, with bigger national beer-makers becoming part of the local economy. Such big breweries produce plenty of waste and, at least locally, responsible disposal is a part of the brewing mission statement. According to one local scientist, one possible avenue is to eat that waste. Robert “Rusty” Bryant, a former biochemist with Schering-Plough Research Institute, is the co-owner with his wife of Asheville Brew Bites, a small company making brownies from spent brewer’s yeast, a byproduct of the brewing process. Bryant thinks his beer treats could make a big impact on both health and the recycling of the beer industry’s leftovers. Bryant first came to Asheville in 2010 to help his son, John Bryant, renovate the Hatchery Building in the River Arts District. Bryant knew nothing about the beer industry then, “other than opening a bottle of beer.” Then, the future site of New Belgium Brewing was just a collection of lots in a flood zone nearby his son’s property. New Belgium, the third largest microbrewery in the country, is slated to begin primary construction on its new $150 million Asheville location in May. Sierra Nevada, the second largest brewery in the country, is test-brewing at its new East Coast facility in Mills River. …
- “Quality over quantity,” Mountain Times: When chemist Dick Wolfe said he was going to grow grapes and produce wine in the High Country, his Yadkin Valley counterparts and soon-to-be rivals scoffed at the notion and wrote him off as another novice. Well, Wolfe has proved them wrong, and he has medals to back him up. Banner Elk Winery recently won the silver for its Chianti vintage and 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon at the N.C. State Fair Wine Competition. The winery also won accolades for its Banner Elk White (silver) and 2011 Seyval Blanc (Bronze). In the real hybrid category, Banner Elk won for its 2011 Banner Elk Red and 2011 Marechal Foch (bronze). In the Rosé/Blush Native American segment of the contest, Banner Elk took home gold for the 2011 High Country variety. The awards were handed out in October. “I know a thing or two about making wine,” Wolfe said. He’s not alone either. Since breaking ground on the south slopes of the High Country’s hills, wineries in Foscoe, Linville and Valle Crucis have emerged as venerable winemakers. …