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.
- “With planting season, slow-moving farm equipment returns to NC roads,” News & Observer: It’s planting season for farmers, and they have a request for drivers: Please, be patient. Farmers must use highways to move large pieces of equipment more than ever, as competition forces them to work more fields that often are separated by subdivisions. …
- “Interest in local food draws younger farmers to the field,” Wilmington Star-News: The day after graduating from N.C. State University, A.J. Carroll was back at her parents’ home in Brunswick County, starting the career she was born for: farming row crops and raising livestock with her dad at Old Oakes Farm, the family business. “I always knew it’s what I wanted to do. It was never a question,” said Carroll, 25, a fifth-generation farmer in Northwest. “That’s why I went to N.C. State, and as soon as I graduated, I was back working on the farm.” …
- “N.C. Forest Service helps local fire departments receive needed equipment,” Anson Record: With help from the North Carolina Forest Service, the Lilesville Fire Department was recently able to apply for and acquire a new truck and light tower. Jay Strider, District 3 ranger with the N.C. Forest Service, was instrumental in helping the LFD acquire the equipment through the Department of Defense and Federal Excess Personal Property programs. …
- “Strawberries ready for picking,” Jacksonville Daily News: The strawberry season is off to a late start, but local growers say the berries came through the harsh winter without a problem. Julian Wooten of Southwest Strawberry Farm in Jacksonville said they started picking strawberries last week. “It is a few weeks late, but there are some pretty berries out there,” Wooten said. Now, he’s counting on some nice spring weather before the summer heat arrives. “We hope it doesn’t get too hot too fast,” he said.
- “Brewers Grains & other Food Waste Safe from FSMA Rule,” Southern Farm Network: (Audio) The past few weeks we have had some issues with the Food Safety Modernization Act outlining what brewers of beer can do with their used grain. They had been selling it to the livestock industry, but the new rule was trying to stop that. North Carolina Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler. “This is what happens when a rule is not fully researched. They wanted to establish processes and standards to lessen the risk associated with production of animal food. Unfortunately their broad definition of animal food meant the regulation would cover finished products, raw materials and ingredients such as the spent grains from brewing; but it went even further than that. It also went into things like broken crackers and bread. We have folks here in NC who have been using fruit products to feed livestock. It would have covered that too. It was way too broad. The Act will be revised so it doesn’t negatively impact the industry. We will see.” …
- “It’s market time!” Sanford Herald: Are you waiting for farm-fresh tomatoes, for the farmers to open their farm stands and for the local farmers markets to open up? Aren’t we all! The growth in farmers markets, farm stands and tailgate markets has been phenomenal in North Carolina. You don’t have to go far to find locally grown produce. It seems to me just about every large and small town in our state has a farmers market. Even some unique out-of-the-way places will have a farmers’ market. …
- “USDA Vague on PED Tracking,” Progressive Farmer: Animal-health experts at USDA don’t know how they are going to implement a plan to require pork producers to report cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus or track movements of animals in herds with the infection. Two weeks ago, the department announced new plans to tighten biosecurity and reduce the spread of PED that was first reported in the country nearly a year ago. Since that time, the pork industry has raised a lot of questions about just how USDA intends to implement such a plan.
- “Urban farm bears fruit in Raleigh,” WRAL: Amid the big buildings and old houses in downtown Raleigh, hope has taken root on a piece of land along Hoke Street. That’s where the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle has its urban farm, a place for food production and agricultural training within the city. …
- “Reaction mixed to FDA e-cig regulations,” Winston-Salem Journal: The Food and Drug Administration’s first shot at regulating electronic cigarettes comes across as an attempt at finding common ground among public health, scientific and economic standpoints, according to analysts and advocates. …