It’s been two years since the online mapping programs DriftWatch and BeeCheck were launched in North Carolina. Since then, it has become a valuable tool for beekeepers, specialty crop growers and pesticide applicators. This month the programs launched two apps to help growers, pesticide applicators and beekeepers. The apps work to increased functionality and ease […]
August 19 is National Honey Bee Day. According to the National Honey Board, honey bees are responsible for about 80 percent of all insect pollination. In all, honey bee pollination is valued at more than $17 billion a year. The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has many programs to protect honey bees and […]
Communication is key to any good relationship, including business. FieldWatch, an online mapping service designed to help prevent crop damage and bee deaths due to accidental or unintended pesticide drift, aims to help improve communication between growers, beekeepers and pesticide applicators. For the past year, department staff, with the help of N.C. State University and […]
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.” A year ago this month, North Carolina became the 14th state to partner with FieldWatch, an online mapping service designed to help prevent crop damage and bee deaths from accidental or unintended pesticide drift. The BeeCheck and DriftWatch […]
Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is pleased to present its lineup for the 2017 Southern Farm Show Feb. 1-3. This show is the Southeast’s largest agricultural exposition with more than 400 vendors. It’s held every February at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. Come early and plan […]
For a department that touches the life of each and every N.C. resident on a regular basis, it’s tough to come up with a year in review that’s not the size of a small town’s phone book. The NCDA&CS has more than 2,000 employees located across the state. We are present in all 100 counties […]
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. “Black cohosh: WNC’s next cash crop?” Asheville Citizen-Times: Seems like it would be a slam dunk. Many of the pieces have been in place for years: the key ingredient, the […]
It’s been five months since North Carolina became the 14th state to partner with FieldWatch, an online mapping service to help prevent crop damage and bee deaths due to accidental or unintended pesticide drifts. “We have spent the last several months educating specialty-crop farmers, beekeepers and pesticide applicators about the program,” said Patrick Jones, deputy […]
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.” North Carolina is joining 13 other states in offering an online service that allows producers of pesticide-sensitive specialty crops to map their crop locations. Commissioner Troxler says DriftWatch seeks to enhance communication and awareness between pesticide users and producers of high-value specialty crops. […]