Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”
Farm Futures Magazine recently ranked the best places to farm in the nation, and North Carolina had a strong showing with 16 counties among the top 100. Bladen County, ranked 10th, was the highest-ranked North Carolina county.
Farm Futures calculated financial ratios and performance for more than 3,000 counties across the U.S. The magazine analyzed Census of Agriculture data from 2002, 2007 and 2012 to compile its rankings. The magazine’s staff calculated countywide financial performance by looking at many factors, including profit margin, asset turnover and average net farm income.
Editors noted that the 2012 data included information from a time when record high corn and soybean prices and long-term drought were hurting livestock producers across the country. And nursery and greenhouse operations were still hurting from the recession’s effects on the housing industry. Commissioner Troxler says that might explain why Duplin and Sampson counties, which led the survey a few years ago, weren’t ranked as high this time.
In addition to Bladen, other North Carolina counties ranked in the top 100 were Hertford (11), Anson (19), Wayne (24), Pender (25), Montgomery (32), Duplin (37), Sampson (40), Wilkes (46), Greene (51), Edgecombe (53), Union (54), Onslow (57), Richmond (81), Beaufort (82) and Lenoir (97).
Click on the audio player below to listen to Commissioner Troxler and Rhonda discuss this survey, what North Carolina’s strong showing says about agriculture in the state, and to find out which U.S. county ranked first.
[Audio:http://info.ncagr.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Troxler_9-23.mp3|titles=Today’s Topic for Sept. 23]
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