“A little seed with big potential,” is how N.C. State University agricultural researcher Dr. David Suchoff often describes sesame and the possibility of growing more of the crop in North Carolina. After just a few years of research and growing test plots on the...
Although North Carolina is in the middle of winter, some of your favorite summer fruits are getting attention on farms across the state. No, that’s not a reference to chocolate-covered strawberries you may have for Valentine’s Day. (If that’s a treat for you this...
https://youtu.be/_MR6MmRJaSw A research project that’s received funding from the NCDA&CS New and Emerging Crops Program is developing new varieties of hops for use in the state’s craft beer industry. Currently, the state’s breweries depend largely on hops grown in...
Whether you’re familiar with modern day cow breeding practices or not, you’d be tempted to call a new effort at some of the state’s research stations “next level.” The idea isn’t exactly brand new, but it certainly hasn’t been around long enough to be called “old” yet either. In fact, this new experiment at the […]
Research Stations Division Director Teresa Lambert expects a new tractor lending program to be a nice boost for two of the state’s agricultural research locations. It already has her dreaming about expanding the program too as a way to help even more stations with their important work. The program involves John Deere lending $1.28 million […]
Less that 24 hours after remnants of Tropical Storm Fred flooded areas of western North Carolina, staff at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville began mobilizing to help farmers who needed a hand to recover. The flooding rains came on a Monday. On Tuesday, the aid effort began. “The morning following the flooding, we started […]
On a hot, humid, August morning recently, Amy Manzulich of Roxboro stood on the edge of a corn plot on the Oxford Research Station, watching her four children pull ears of corn from the stalks. Braving the heat was worth it as they each brought over ears and shucked them to see the kernels on […]
With agriculture being our state’s number one industry, North Carolina is well-known for its beautiful acres of farm land and variety of crops. The blacklands, an area of the state often overlooked when discussing agriculture, is actually one of the largest crop producing regions of our state. The blacklands encompass the following eight counties in […]
One of the things in N.C. agriculture that is helping 2021 feel a little more normal is the return of field days at the state’s agricultural research stations. During 2020, several of the field days were cancelled, and others switched to a virtual online format. This year, the calendar has a few field days that […]
Summary: Six agricultural field days are scheduled for North Carolina research stations through August. Topics covered include Christmas trees, produce, peanuts, dairy and tomatoes. In 2020, most meetings became virtual events out of necessity, including field days put on by the research stations across the state. If you are unfamiliar with field days, these events […]
Automation in agriculture has revolutionized some of the work on farms, including North Carolina’s 18 research stations. Automated features on equipment can improve accuracy and consistency, from tractors in fields to operations in barns. There’s also a benefit in the aspect of labor because automation can save lots of man hours and essentially do more […]
North Carolina’s 18 research stations are often thought of as a big piece of agriculture’s future. The research done on the stations helps farmers find better, more productive ways to produce more food and fiber for a growing population. To keep moving agriculture into the future, the research stations are implementing several technologies that involve […]