“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...
Summary: Blink and summer will be over! Farmers markets are busy with fresh new products coming in daily and special commodity day events planned. In addition, research stations across the state are hosting field days to share the latest research with local farmers....
Summary: We are fortunate in North Carolina to have 18 research stations operated in cooperation with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service, N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University. In the coming months a number of field days are...
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 […]
Summary: Big happenings with research stations. Thanks to a public-private partnership, John Deere will be loaning new tractors to two of our research stations to help with research crops. Case IH has a similar program that also allows local college students to use these tractors in a hands-on way, giving them the opportunity to use […]
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 […]
A food safety education program within NCDA&CS gained a big tool for its toolbox recently. It’s expected to help ensure that North Carolina fresh produce growers are well educated about how to safely pack and hold their produce. On July 20, the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River hosted a grand […]
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 […]
It’s not uncommon for a woman who grew up helping on the farm to embrace the term “farm girl,” but what do you call a woman who grew up on one of North Carolina’s agriculture research stations where farming meets academic research? In one case, you could call that woman the division director. Teresa Lambert […]
A farmer’s work is never done, even in what’s sometimes called the “dead of winter.” The same is true for North Carolina’s agricultural research stations. They operate as working farms with a platform for agricultural research. So even if there’s not as much activity as the summer, the state’s 18 research stations are far from […]