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.
- “Poultry shows halted in N.C. as state prepares for bird flu,” Winston-Salem Journal: Chase Yoder makes faces with his turkey, Winter, as she prepares to take a drink of water. Chase had planned to enter several birds in shows this fall. The Dixie Classic Fair will have a lot of exhibits this fall, but it won’t have a poultry show. State officials have suspended live bird shows and public live bird sales from Aug. 15 to Jan. 15 due to the potential threat of avian influenza.
Chase Yoder, 11, of Kernersville, said his family learned online about the cancellation, which was announced in June. … - “North Carolina sees better disease-resistant peanut varieties coming,” Southeast Farm Press: Four diseases tend to hammer peanut yield and quality in North Carolina with researchers at North Carolina State University conducting a number of research trials to combat the problem. During the 47th annual meeting of the American Peanut Research and Education Society in Charleston, S.C. July 15, Wesley Hancock, a crop science graduate student at N.C. State presented a paper on the breeding programs at the university seeking resistant varieties to the diseases leaf spot, cylindrocladium black rot (CBR), sclerotinia blight and tomato spotted wilt virus. …
- “Sanderson Farms clearing land for $17 million hatchery near Lumberton, work to begin soon on processing plant,” Fayetteville Observer: Robeson County’s biggest industrial project in history has begun construction. Sanderson Farms Inc., a poultry processing corporation, has begun clearing land at the site of what will be a $17 million chicken hatchery near Lumberton. By the end of the month, county officials say, site work will commence for the planned $100 million processing facility near St. Pauls. Barring delays, by next August, the facility will open, bringing more than 1,100 jobs to the county.
- “Backyard Flock Owners Balk at Chicken Registry,” WCHL/Chapelboro.com: “We’re concerned that if this virus moves into this state, it could be devastating,” says North Carolina’s Assistant Commissioner for Consumer Protection Joe Reardon, describing the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza that’s decimating poultry flocks in the Midwest. “We’ve seen in the Midwest that over 50 million birds had to be depopulated because of this virus,” says Reardon. “It is, without question, the deadliest virus that has ever come into the United States of America.” Officials in North Carolina worry if the flu spreads here it could cripple the state’s $18 billion dollar poultry industry for years to come. …
- “Modernizing the market: New features and higher rent at the WNC Farmers Market,” Mountain XPress: The N.C Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has released a master plan for the Western North Carolina Farmers Market, covering future business and development operations for the facility. “The master plan addresses the future of food in Western North Carolina,” says market manager Doug Sutton. “It’s a project for the farmers, the consumers and the region.” The Brevard Road market opened in 1977 and is one of four farmers markets owned by the state of North Carolina and operated by the state agricultural department. The market’s 36-acre-parcel includes the retail market, as well as the land that holds Jesse Israel and Sons Garden Center, the Moose Café, wholesale market operations and NCDA&CS administrative offices. The new master plan is intended to guide management at the WNC market over the next 20 years, while serving as a guide for future investments in the facility. …
- “NC farmer hoping to help save sharks with tobacco crop,” WBTV: This is the summer of the shark at the Carolina coast. Many are frightened by sharks. Some want to fish them to extinction. But one farmer is attempting to save sharks. That’s right – save sharks. Plus, he hopes to revitalize the tobacco industry all at the same time. Farmer Pat Short has worked his fields on the outskirts of Greensboro all his life. So did his father, his grandfather and great grandfather. A century-old tobacco barn is testament to that family tradition. But these days, big tobacco means small profits for farmers. It just doesn’t seem to pay anymore. “It does,” said Short, “But you’ve got to grow it on such a huge amount of acreage, and we don’t really have that kind of acreage here in the Piedmont.” Yet, farmer Short is raising a special strain of tobacco on only a half-acre of land this summer. His 15-hundred plants are all genetically modified for one particular purpose – to create something known as squalene – a chemical compound that is widely used in both cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. He says that, “Traditionally it comes from shark livers.” That’s right, shark livers. …
- “Trout disease hits High Country,” Jefferson Post: A deadly trout disease has hit the state of North Carolina for the first time and it hits way too close to home for many sportsmen. The first occurrence was discovered in the Watauga River that flows through Avery and Watauga Counties before crossing into Tennessee and emptying into the Holston River. Whirling disease affects fish in the trout and salmon family with rainbow and brook trout, two species found in North Carolina waters, being the most susceptible. The disease, caused by the microscopic parasite Myxobolus cerebralis, damages cartilage and skeletal tissue in a fish, causing it to swim in a whirling motion. …
- “North American researchers fight mycotoxins with increased testing, awareness,” Feed Navigator: US scientists are working to develop faster or more complete methods to test for mycotoxins in feed crops as a way to increase feed safety and animal performance. …
- “N.C. wine and grape industry has $1.71-billion impact on state’s economy,” Caldwell Journal: Wine lovers may raise a glass to a new report that shows the North Carolina wine and grape industry contributes $1.71 billion to the state’s economy. “It is encouraging to see continued growth in the wine and grape industry, not only for our wineries, but also for our grape growers,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “More than 77 percent of all wine produced in North Carolina comes from North Carolina grapes.” The study was commissioned by the N.C. Wine and Grape Council and conducted by Frank, Rimerman + Co. using data from 2013. The firm also conducted the council’s 2009 economic impact study. The economic impact of the industry grew 33.6 percent from 2009 to 2013. Tourism accounted for the most significant increase in the study. Between 2009 and 2013, tourism expenditures increased 65 percent, to $257 million. The number of tourists visiting N.C. wineries increased by nearly a half-million people from 2009 to 2013. …