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.
- “NC State Fair opens Thursday with new mascot, pavilion,” The News & Observer: The state commissioner of agriculture is the person most closely associated with the N.C. State Fair, but now Steve Troxler has some competition from a big, exuberant bird. Casey Cardinal is the new mascot for the State Fair. He stands confidently, arms crossed, on the fair’s logo and will be a fixture at the fairgrounds – a silent, perpetually smiling symbol of the 11-day fair that opens Thursday afternoon at 3. …
- “Zade Jennings back at fair to show winning livestock,” WRAL: (Video) Zade Jennings, 4, may be pint sized but he is already a big time showman in the livestock competitions at the North Carolina State Fair. Jennings is familiar with the mishaps of the job, but it’s a job he’s mastered it at a young age. The livestock competitions are annually among the most popular attractions at the state fair. …
- “USDA Grants $6.7M to Curb Fruit Pest,” N.C. State News: NC State has won a $6.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to undertake research and grower education efforts aimed at better managing a major new pest that causes hundreds of millions of dollars in annual agricultural losses. Under the four-year specialty crop grant from USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture, NC State University scientists will join with researchers and extension specialists from across the nation to conduct on-farm tests aimed at finding new ways of effectively dealing with spotted wing drosophila, a tiny fruit fly that’s been causing big problems since it was first detected in North America in 2008. They’ll also develop tactics and tools for predicting risks from the pest, along with educational materials to help growers make the most economically and environmentally sound management decisions. …
- “Recent Storms Cause Widespread Flooding Across ENC,” Public Radio East: (Audio) Eastern North Carolina has been inundated with rain when a system stalled along the coast, dumping up to 22 inches of rain in some areas. The slow moving nor’easter combined with tropical moisture from Hurricane Joaquin and caused widespread flooding across the region on Sunday and Monday. It’s harvest time; sweet potatoes, peanuts, soybeans and tobacco are ready to be picked. So it’s the worst time for strong winds and rain. After this week’s storm, fields are flooded, plants have been destroyed, and some crops like cotton may be a total loss because they can’t be harvested when the seeds are softened by rain. …
- “Danny Kornegay is the 2015 North Carolina Farmer of the Year,” Southeast Farm Press: As a tobacco farmer, sweet potato grower, row crop producer and contract hog grower, Danny Kornegay of Princeton, N.C., has been a great success in his 45 years of farming. He farms 5,500 acres, including 2,900 acres of rented land and 2,600 owned acres. He farms in three North Carolina and two South Carolina counties. As a result of his success as a diversified farmer, Kornegay has been selected as the 2015 North Carolina winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. Kornegay joins nine other state winners as finalists for the award. The overall winner will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at the Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show in Moultrie, Ga. …
- “NC pumpkin patches, corn mazes struggle with rain,” The News & Observer: Fall agritourism attractions such as corn mazes and country hayrides have been hit hard over the past few weeks by the extraordinary amount of rain that has inundated North Carolina. Gross Farms in Sanford, which features a corn maze with more than five miles of pathways and a pick-your-own pumpkin patch that is open to the public on weekends, was completely closed the last weekend in September and the first weekend in October because of the weather. And, this past weekend, it was forced to shut down early on Saturday when rain struck yet again. “We have been rained out now three Saturdays in a row,” said Tina Gross, whose family has owned the farm for five generations. “That’s going to be a tough hit.” …