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.
- “Ag Exports to China Continue to Grow,” Southern Farm Network: The Chinese are an important part of the North Carolina ag Economy, and that importance continues to grow. Peter Thornton, Assistant Director of International Marketing with North Carolina Department of Agriculture explains that the focus of agricultural marketing in China has broadened: “It’s a tremendous potential market for us. We are finding out that the big cities are very developed and very competitive markets. …
- “From stores or farms, food safety a priority,” WNCN: (Video) Agriculture is North Carolina’s No. 1 industry, and a growing part of that comes in the farm-to-fork movement. Hundreds of farmers markets dot the state and it’s a billion-dollar industry nationwide. “The freshness, you can’t beat,” Russell Shinn said as he rubbed his hands against the cold morning air at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh. Shinn is a chef at the Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen in Cary. He has a lot to consider when he goes to the farmers market each week. …
- “Virus hitting hard on NC hog farms,” Charlotte Observer: Nearly a third of the state’s 3,000 large commercial hog farms have been hit by a fast-spreading virus that usually kills every piglet it infects, and many farmers and veterinarians think it’s just a matter of time before the rest of the farms are hit.Like human flu, porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus thrives in cold, wet winter months. Recently it has been popping up on North Carolina farms at a rate of nearly 100 a week, according to data kept by state veterinarian David Marshall’s office. The numbers may be low, though, since farmers aren’t required to report it.”The scientific community is still trying to figure out what this virus is all about, and the industry is working very hard trying to stop the spread,” Marshall said. …
- “NC crop sales rise, despite farmland dwindling,”Asheville Citizen Times News: When it comes to agriculture, business is booming in North Carolina — and the mountains. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released preliminary results of its 2012 Census of Agriculture, and it shows that crop sales in North Carolina have risen dramatically. But it also shows the state lost 2,703 farms from 2007-12, and 62,560 acres of farmland. Sales of crops, including nursery and greenhouse products, jumped 65 percent from 2007-12, growing from $10.3 billion to $12.6 billion. …
- “Farmers from across the country tour “house that cotton built,” Southeast Farm Press: (Photo Gallery) They say it’s the “house that cotton built.” It’s the high-tech headquarters of Cotton Incorporated in Cary, N.C., where research and development are conducted to keep cotton on consumers’ minds and bodies. Annually, Cotton Incorporated lays out the red carpet and invites cotton producers from across the country to tour the facility, which was established, built with, and funded by check-off dollars assessed on each bale of cotton marketed in, or the equivalent imported into, the United States. The assessment is $1 plus .5 percent of a bale’s value. This year’s multi-region producer tour was Feb. 16-18. More than 120 cotton producers and their spouses and guests from the Southeast, Mid-South, Southwest and Western U.S. cotton-producing regions traveled to take part in the tour.
- “Why NC Lawmakers Want To Bring Fresh Apples And Broccoli To 400,000 People,” WUNC: More than 410,000 people across North Carolina don’t have easy access to fresh fruit and vegetables, according to a Duke University study. North Carolina lawmakers are looking for ways they can help get fresh fruits and vegetables to corners of the state — urban and rural — where they’re difficult to access. Non-profit organizations and local governments across the country have for years identified areas known as “food deserts” across the country, but the House Committee on Food Desert Zones is the first effort by state lawmakers to address the issue. Members of the bi-partisan committee, which is meeting four times before the General Assembly reconvenes for its session in May, are hearing from grocery store managers, public health officials and non-profit workers and looking at potential courses of action, such as tax incentives for stores that open in food deserts. More than 410,000 people live in 171 food deserts across North Carolina, according to a Duke University study published in 2012. …
- “Pine State Flowers to open in 1930s-era flower shop,” Durham Herald Sun: Susie Zadeh, from Atlanta, Georgia poses with the building soon to be Pine State Flowers in Durham. Zadeh is opening the shop with Maggie Smith in late March…They want to re-open it as a flower shop called Pine State Flowers in March. Smith, who has been involved in the local food, small farming movement, said the idea is to, as much as possible, make the shop a place where local farmers can sell their locally grown flowers. …
- “Chew on This: Business helps Triangle farmers earn income in winter,” The News & Observer: Winters can be tough for some farmers. If they don’t have a market for their crops, they don’t grow them and, of course, they don’t make any money. The Produce Box, a Raleigh-based company that offers weekly delivery of fresh North Carolina produce, wants to change that for the 40 or so farmers who work with them. …